ournetjs 




25*} JBrother j[Tohn 




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CORlRIGHT DEPOSFK 




FOUR potentates ruled the mind of Europe in the Reformation: the 
Emperor, Erasmus, the Pope, and Luther. The Pope wanes, 
Erasmus is little, the Emperor is nothing, hut Luther abides as 
a power for all time. His image casts itself upon the current of ages, 
as the mountain mirrors itself in the river that winds at ltB foot — 
the mighty fixing itself immutably upon the changing. — K ranth. 



/UJjlu "tfll 




Copyrigbt, 1916, by W. N. Harley 



.H 3 



DRINTED by Master Craftsman Hans Lufft for 
1 W. N. Harley, and to be had of him at No. 80 
Martin Avenue, Columbus, Ohio. 



(-1 
9 1916 



Published, October, 1916 



5ci,A446266 



DEDICATED 
to the pieces of the 
Church of to-day for 
the sake of the peace of 
the Church of to-morrow. 



(3) 



OGOD, Who restorest to 
the right way them that 
do err, Who gatherest 
them that are scattered, and 
preservest them that are gath- 
ered: of Thy tender mercy, we 
beseech Thee, pour out upon 
Thy Christian people the grace 
of unity, that, all schism being 
healed, Thy flock, united to the 
true Shepherd of Thy Church, 
may worthily serve Thee, through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



(4) 



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BY WAY OP EXPLANATION 

I will smite this devil with a quill. — Luther. 




HE work here presented to the 
public came into our possession 
with a large number of manu- 
scripts as a legacy from the pen 
of a deceased clergyman — a legacy 
to one next in friendship if not 
next in kinship. Owing to the en- 
grossing duties which attend the 
editing of a daily newspaper, several months elapsed 
before we were enabled to undertake the work in- 
volved in examining and classifying these papers. 
The larger number of the manuscripts proved to be 
sermons, which, for the most part, were incomplete — 
some lacking the peroration, others having one or 
the other part merely in outline, and most of them, 
good as they were, in no shape for print. The smaller 
number of manuscripts comprised attempts at dif- 
ferent kinds of English composition — poems, prov- 
erbs, speeches, editorials, sketches, serials; in short, 
attempts at almost every species of writing, but, like 
the sermons, by far the larger portion was made up 
of unfinished efforts. Our friend must have be- 
longed to that class of men who can use their pens 
effectively only when under the stress of excitement, 
like the artist who lays on telling and talking colors 
bright and sombre while his soul glows with the 
(5) 



6 By Way of Explanation 

inspiration of an ideal, but tosses aside palette and 
brush the moment the vision begins to fade, or like 
those who try their hand at various things for the 
mere pleasure of the work. 

While thus endeavoring to classify the papers left 
in our hands, and having almost arrived at the con- 
clusion that our friend had not entertained the remot- 
est thought of making us his literary executor, we 
came upon a somewhat bulky manuscript, which was 
securely wrapped and tied. On opening the pack- 
age, we found a note which set forth the character 
of the work and expressed the author's wishes with 
reference to it. A hasty examination showed that 
this manuscript was finished. Our curiosity was 
aroused by the title, and we started at once to read 
the work. No more classifying was done that night. 
So absorbing did the story grow that we read on till 
broad daylight, stopping but once, and that was to 
readjust the gaslight. We forthwith resolved to ex- 
ecute the wish which the deceased author expressed 
in the note and "publish the work after the lapse of 
some years, just for the good it will do." Why he 
desired its publication delayed, we cannot say; but 
his directions in this respect have been scrupulously 
complied with, and the work is now given to the 
Church with the conviction not only that it will prove 
interesting and instructive, but also that it is timely 
and has a mission of no little moment. 

Whether this production is what it purports to be 
or is an invention pure and simple, it is none the 



By Way of Explanation 



less a remarkable piece of work, if not an altogether 
unique one. The note found with the manuscript 
states that every phrase and sentence uttered by 
Luther in the course of this narrative is to be found 
in the Walch edition of his works; and since we have 
verified this in all the important passages, by means 
of the extensive index to that edition, we are con- 
vinced that the statement is absolutely true, and that 
in the entire volume there is not a single expression 
credited to Luther which cannot be found in any 
standard edition of his works. This is a remarkable 
coincidence and also a psychological phenomenon of 
some importance, if the work is what its author 
claims for it; and if it is not what the author claims 
for it, if the whole, including the claim as to its 
nature, is to be taken as an invention, it is a note- 
worthy production notwithstanding, exhibiting an 
extensive knowledge of Luther's writings or a pro- 
digious amount of labor and patience. 

While the work may wear the aspect of a polemic 
in the guise of a romance, it was no doubt intended 
to be an irenic, and is such in fact, if viewed in any 
other light than that of narrative. Its author was 
a man of singularly sweet disposition and of mystic 
turn of mind. He would rather nestle on the bosom 
of his Master than enter the lists of debate and strife; 
and yet, when the provocation was sufficient, he could 
be like his prototype — a veritable Son of Thunder; 
but it was never thunder for thunder's sake, nor for 

2 



8 By Way of Explanation 

the sake of war, but it was to make peace more cer- 
tain on the foundation of truth. If, therefore, he had 
in mind any other object than that of recounting a 
singular experience or relating an interesting story, 
it was only that which he tacitly avows at the close 
of the tale, where it is evident that he is under the 
impression that he has contributed his mite towards 
a real union of Lutheran forces by exhibiting, in a 
novel and striking manner, the folly, shame and sin 
of schism, discord and contention. If such was one 
of his objects from the outset, he has not gone wide 
of his mark in the execution of the plan. The folly 
and sin of schism and withal the foibles of bodies 
ecclesiastic, have been set forth in a telling and ludi- 
crous manner. No matter how he intended it, he has 
dealt the devil of schism an effective blow with his 
pen. And for that we say, God bless his memory. 
There are, however, some things in the work 
which one might wish eliminated or amended. 
Among these is the odor of tobacco which clings to 
some of the descriptive passages. Yet the self -drawn 
portrait of the author would not be complete with- 
out his chubby little meerschaum, and the only won- 
der is that he did not succeed in putting a pipe into 
Luther's mouth before their travels came to an end; 
but, though he found pleasure and even a sort of 
inspiration in the habit, that will hardly lead any- 
body astray, for the best of men have habits which 
it is wise to shun. Among the portions which might 
be toned down those stand foremost in which foibles 



By Way of Explanation 9 

are dealt with. At times they seem to be caustic, 
but it is evident that the caricature is drawn only 
in the spirit of a love which aims to be helpful in 
removing the folly by sketching it in proportions 
so large that it must be seen, and presupposing in all 
the simplicity of charity that no good churchmen 
will take umbrage at one who points out the faults 
they have blindly fostered. And thus, knowing full 
well the loving kindness of the author's heart, and 
having a natural reverence for his posthumous work, 
we decided to make no alterations in the volume, but 
merely to superintend its passage through the press. 
It is therefore given to the Church just as it came 
to our hands, with all of its burrs and blossoms, 
sighs and smiles, and thought and prayer provoking 
matter. 

To assert indifference to the success of this vol- 
ume would be sheer dissimulation on our part. If 
it be no child of our brain, it is none the less a fond 
child of our affection and, parent-like, we believe it 
has a mission to perform — a word to say to Zion in 
its own way. As it leaves our sanctum we bid it 
godspeed. Go forth, thou little foster-child, upon thy 
mission: show them the shame, aye, and the sin, of 
divided and belligerent forces; spur men on to talk 
and work and pray more earnestly for a united 
Church; and, in thine own way, impress upon the 
Church's heart the Master's plaintive word, "That 
they may be one." W. N. HARLEY. 

Reformation Day, 1915. 



FOR to me far worse than any war or battle is the 
civil war of the Church of God; yes, far more 
painful than the wars that have raged without— 
Constantine the Great. 



(10) 



CONTENTS Page 

I. I Rub My Eyes 15 

II. Luther at Church 21 

III. Getting Acquainted 30 

IV. The Doctors Disagree 44 

V. Over the Mountains 61 

VI. Unequally Yoked Together 83 

VII. The King's Business Requires Haste. . . 112 

VIII. Brethren Bland and Otherwise 133 

IX. At the Barber's 163 

X. The Pope Gets a Pelting 184 

XI. A Tale of Mine Host and the Sequel. . . 206 

XII. Everything is Lovely 225 

XIII. A Fly in the Ointment 240 

XIV. The Mending of a Bachelor 257 

XV. Where I Stop and You Begin 284 

Supplement: The Remedy 305 

Index: What Dr. Martin Luther Says. . 327 

(11) 



12 



Contents 



EMBELLISHMENTS 

Portrait of Luther Frontispiece 

Drawn by Cranach, about A. D. 1545, and 
Engraved by Jorg, A. D. 1551. 

Border Title-page 

From the First Edition of Luther's Address 
to the Christian Nobility, A. D. 1520. 

Border 303 

From the First Edition of Luther's Work on 
the Lord's Supper, A. D. 1527. 

Woodcut 304 

Tail-piece from the First Edition of Luther's 
Work on the Babylonian Captivity of The 
Church, A. D. 1520. 

Colophon 354 

From the Introduction to the First Edition of 
Luther's German Version of the Old Testament, 
A. D. 1534. 




LITTLE JOURNEYS WITH MARTIN LUTHER 



(13) 



■HOUGH this be madness, yet there is method in 
it. — Shakespeare. 



(14) 



@®@©$§£§3S@S52S®© 



I. I RUB MY EYES 

Whatever time or space may intervene, 

I will not be a stranger in this scene. — Longfellow. 




HE series of strange events which 
I mean to record here, if so be 
God grant the needful time and 
strength, began in the city of 
Washington in the Year of Our 
Lord 1898. It was Lord's day 
evening and I was sauntering to- 
wards Thomas Circle, near which 
the Luther Memorial Church is located. As you no 
doubt know, a bronze statue of Martin Luther stands 
in front of this edifice. That statue has a deal to 
do with my story. But I must not anticipate: I will 
speak of that at the proper time and place. 

As it was, a number of fashionably dressed people 
were wending their way to church, but not enough, 
after they had separated for their respective places 
of worship, to make more than the corporal's guard 
which fashion has made the common Sunday evening 
congregation for Washington during hot weather, 
cold weather and weather that is neither hot nor 
cold. The white statuary in the circle hard by, the 
beauty of indigenous and tropical plants — for we 
were over shoe-tops in June — and the gay attire of 
the pedestrians made an attractive scene in the even- 
CIS) 



16 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

ing twilight; but the train of thought it awakened 
was unpleasant, touching as it did on the indifference 
shown God's house, the vanity of dress and the 
tyranny of the fashion-plate, and ending in opening 
afresh a long-standing feud with that silly autocrat 
called fashion. 

Musing thus, I came to Fourteenth Street and 
Vermont Avenue, where the Memorial Church is 
located, and paused, almost involuntarily, to look at 
the bronze Luther. Being, perhaps, somewhat pet- 
ulant, the old question came up: Why should the 
contributions of Lutherans all over the land have 
placed this statue just here? Is it not just the pas- 
tor of this church who ridicules Luther's Catechism, 
disavows everything distinctively Lutheran, and 
shows himself more afraid of a hogskin volume of 
sixteenth century theology than he is of the devil 
himself? But one can console himself. There is a bit 
of irony in it after all. The bronze Luther stands 
quite a distance from the church, and we all know — 
except, perhaps, this pastor and a coterie of like spir- 
its — how well this portrays the actual condition of 
things. That evening, to my eye and taste at least, 
the figure of Luther clad in symmetrical robe pre- 
sented a refreshing contrast to the men and women 
on the street. Modern attire is an abomination to 
artistic taste. Every good sculptor seems to feel 
himself driven to invest his male figures with drap- 
ery of some sort to help out appearances for fashion's 
hitching-post of a man. Our modern attire is neither 



I Rub My Eyes 17 



decorous nor aesthetic, and I often wonder how, under 
these untoward circumstances, a white shirt and a 
closed mouth can go so far toward lending dignity 
to a man in trousers. Imagine Luther or Wesley in 
breeches, if you can, and not smile! The figure of 
Luther upon the pedestal was more comely than that 
of the men on the street; but I recalled how the toil 
of men had necessitated changes in apparel, so that 
with the generality of mankind our present mode of 
attire is entirely a matter of convenience in work, 
and that thought brought with it a better feeling. 
Time has been a tailor as well as some other things. 
Aye, what changes the centuries have wrought! 
Standing there in the gloaming with the dome of the 
National Capitol before me and the simple abode of 
primitive man in mind, I tried to review the world's 
progress in art, invention and science. What totter- 
ing steps, then what strides — what colossal strides! 
Would an ancient believe it? Descriptions of inven- 
tions comparatively recent, like the steam-engine, the 
telegraph, telephone, electric motor, would seem fab- 
ulous to him. What if Luther could revisit the 
earth? I queried. What would he think? What 
would he say? 

I must have been lost in contemplation no little 
time, for when I came fully to myself I found that 
the long shadows had merged into the soft darkness 
of early candle-light. And here it is necessary to 
mention one of my oddities. I usually look intently 
on the floor and scrape nervously with one foot 



18 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

when I get into a brown study — an eccentricity for 
which my wife has chided me as often as for smok- 
ing. My eyes were fixed thus upon the pavement 
while the aforesaid cogitations were going on, but 
when I asked myself what Luther would say, should 
he return to the earth, I thought of the statue and 
straightway looked up. You may imagine my amaze- 
ment when I saw that the statue was surrounded 
with a glow, much like the heat which we sometimes 
observe rising from a stove, save that this had a 
golden hue, and beheld, instead of one, two Luthers 
on the pedestal, or more precisely speaking, at the 
pedestal, for the one figure seemed to stand a little 
below the other, and the whole appeared much like 
the double effect produced by pressing the eye while 
looking at an object. 

For a moment I stood as if paralyzed. Then, 
recovering my composure and thinking the double 
an illusion, I removed my glasses, cleaned them with 
a bit of chamois, rubbed my eyes, readjusted my 
spectacles and looked again. I must confess that I 
was not yet prepared for what had taken place and 
what soon followed. The golden shimmer about the 
statue had vanished entirely, and but one figure, 
darkly outlined against the sky, stood on the granite 
block, while the other figure stood on the ground 
directly in front of the pedestal, and was, so far as 
I could see, the exact counterpart of the one on the 
pedestal, save that it was smaller. It evidently had 
slid or stepped from the pedestal while I was rub- 



I Rub My Eyes 19 



bing my glasses. To make sure that I was not mis- 
taken in the identification on account of the defective 
light, I stepped a few paces forward. Then I saw 
the figure turn around, glance at the statue and start 
off toward the church. It was no mistake. Luther 
had returned. Let the reason be what it may, nat- 
ural, preternatural, or supernatural, there went the 
great German in Augustinian gown, carrying an old- 
time folio Bible under his arm. Each moment I 
expected the earth to tremble under the foot of this 
intellectual giant; but he stepped along much like 
any other mortal, his walk being distinguished only 
by a rather firm and decisive step. He soon reached 
the church, and, after pausing a few moments to read 
the name, passed through its portal. 

I did what I am inclined to think any other mortal 
would have done, that is, I stood there as if rooted 
to the ground. It is, indeed, a strange feeling that 
comes over a man who is permitted to witness such 
unearthly proceedings. The reasoning faculty seems 
to be stupefied, but the power of perception remains 
active, leaving him able to see and to know, but 
unable to draw any rational conclusion. It makes 
you feel creepy and even leads you to doubt your 
sanity. However, the numbness that had crept over 
body and mind passed away, and, having regained 
full control of myself, I was not a little chagrined to 
think that this was the first Lutheran church which 
Luther should enter upon returning to the earth. 
Any more orthodox church would have suited me bet- 



20 



Little Journeys With Martin Luther 



ter, for I was anxious to have him get a good first 
impression of Lutherans in America. Then I won- 
dered what would happen. This Luther was a plain- 
spoken man, and if things were much awry he might 
speak his mind with old-time emphasis in open meet- 
ing. In fact, I was possessed by the feeling that 
something unusual would happen, and I went over 
to the church to see how this matter would end. 
Luther had entered by the front door, and since the 
pulpit is in that end of the edifice, I reasoned he 
would be seated well to the front. Hence I went in 
by one of the rear entrances and took a seat from 
which I could overlook the sparse audience and 
observe all that occurred. And there did I bide to 
see those things which should come to pass. 




@^®©$§£§CSSS§5SS£§> 



II. LUTHER AT CHURCH 

The hottest horse will oft be cool, 

The dullest will show fire ; 
The friar will often play the fool, 

The fool will play the friar. — Old Song. 




S stated, I keenly regretted the 
turn affairs had taken when Lu- 
ther entered the building. That, 
to my mind, was not the place to 
get a good first impression of the 
Church in this land. Besides, I 
feared he might speak his mind 
with reference to what he saw and 
heard, if it did not suit him: not that I cared a whit 
for the verbal cudgeling the parson might receive, 
but I was apprehensive that it might create a scene 
and thus get into the morning papers, and I for one 
do not enjoy seeing little pieces of soiled ecclesias- 
tical linen dangling from the line which the Associ- 
ated Press has stretched across the land. Had he 
asked me, I would have directed him to Grace Church 
or to the Missouri meeting-house. But good impres- 
sion or bad, scene or no scene, I had nothing to do 
with the choice and did not see how it was to be 
altered; and so, reflecting that "what can't be cured 
must be endured, ' ' I settled down in my pew. After 
witnessing what occurred at the statue, I was, meta- 
(21) 



22 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

phorically speaking, all eyes and ears, and now kept 
both well open. 

It so happened that the Rev. Mr. Maschkeh was 
in the pulpit, or, more properly speaking:, on the 
rostrum, for the interior is more like a lyceum than 
a church. We had both entered late, and I had 
scarcely taken my seat when the reading of an- 
nouncements began — an almost interminable string 
of ecclesiastical and secular hybrids. Pulpit adver- 
tising is a veritable bane in this country. One often 
wonders how a preacher can have the heart to kick 
a big enough hole into a divine service to let this 
nondescript drove hoof through. But while the 
announcements were being read I had an excellent 
opportunity to make a mental portrait of the Luther 
before me. The light fell full upon him, and my 
seat, a little back and to one side, afforded me an 
excellent place of vantage from which to make obser- 
vations. The first thing that struck me was how f ar 
amiss my previous conceptions were of Luther's stat- 
ure and appearance. 

There before me, within easy ear-shot, he sat, a 
man of about average height, certainly not more, 
rather stout and well-knit. Here was neither 
giant nor demigod, but a mortal who looked every 
inch like a well-fed man of God. And this I 
liked, for I am afraid of that lean, hungry, Cassias 
look. 

"Let me have men about me that are fat ; 
Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o' nights." 



Luther at Church 23 

But the most notable difference between Luther's 
appearance and the many pictures of him I have 
seen, was in the shape of the forehead. In the larger 
number of portraits his forehead slopes rather much, 
but I saw this was not the case. On the contrary, 
the upper part of the forehead was rather prominent 
and so also the lower part over the eyes. This 
showed him to have the head of a thinker as well 
as of a seer. I think I observed this because I take 
some stock in physiognomy in the etymological sense 
of the word, and this discovery was water on my 
wheel. The evident reason for the receding fore- 
head in the Cranach pictures is that the artist had 
the subject seated before him on a platform, and 
thus, by looking upward, the forehead would seem 
more sloping, an effect which the bulge over the nose 
and eyes would heighten. In my investigation of 
the matter since, I find that my observations, 
although contrary to the Cranach pictures, are veri- 
fied by the mask of Luther's face made after his 
death. This discovery made a decided alteration in 
my mental portrait of the Reformer. From his ami- 
able countenance and the telltale wrinkles at the 
corners of his eyes and mouth, I knew he was capable 
of a hearty laugh, and thought he looked like a man 
who could say God can enjoy a wholesome joke. Not 
that there was no firmness expressed in that sturdy 
form and strong face. That quality looked through 
very decidedly. But it was this blending of firmness 
3 



24 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

and gentleness that pleased me so much. Such a man 
could lift gates of Gaza and stoop over a daisy to 
drink in its beauty; prod the Pope and caress a child. 
And pray, who else has the right to be a reformer? 
He must not hurl thunderbolts who cannot protect 
the weak and conserve the beautifuL This man's 
appearance showed that he could do these things. 

While I was making these observations the an- 
nouncements came to an end, but the reverend gen- 
tleman encroached further upon the time of worship 
by making some offhand remarks which seemed to 
me to be unwarranted censures of the conservative 
wing of the General Synod. Something was said also 
in condemnation of a movement to lead the Church 
back to the Lutheran theology of the sixteenth cen- 
tury. If talking picnics, lawn fetes, leagues, socie- 
ties, conventions, conclaves, excursions and enter- 
tainments was Sanscrit to Luther, here was something 
he could understand. This was like high treason 
against the Church, and I noticed from Luther's 
facial expression that it displeased him sorely. More- 
over, a folder, which he glanced at from time to time, 
affected him in like manner. After the service I 
looked at this vexatious pamphlet, which he had left 
in the pew, and found that it was a pastoral letter 
of June 23, 1895, which evidently had been preserved 
in one of the hymn-books. It contained not a few 
stabs at Lutheran orthodoxy, and I did not wonder 
that, with the remarks made after the announce- 
ments, it caused the Reformer's eyes to flash and his 



Luther at Church 25 

jaws to set with the firmness which indicates an 
aroused spirit. These things I noted at the time, 
and my heart was filled with fear of those things 
which might come to pass, for it seemed to me like 
striking matches in a powder magazine. 

After a little while the sermon came. My weak 
hope that it might redeem the situation and spare 
us the scene which I now felt sure would come at 
the close of the service was shattered at once. The 
sermon was keyed to the wail struck up after the 
announcements when the tendency of a part of the 
General Synod toward genuine Lutheran doctrine 
and practice was denounced. Much of what the 
preacher said is clean gone now, but I will not suffer 
myself to be censured for this slip of memory, if slip 
it be. I think after events will show that this ser- 
mon was not properly prepared. But I do remember 
the gist of a part of the discourse and the effect it 
produced on Luther. The preacher spoke a deal of 
what the fraternal relations of the different denomi- 
nations ought to be, and said we were all on the way 
to the one heaven and hence it made no difference 
at all to what denomination a man belonged. That 
was fine stuff to pour into the ears of the hero of the 
colloquium at Marburg! I felt sore over this. It 
seemed as if everything must needs go wrong this 
day. But how could I prevent it? I thought the 
old Reformer's eyes flashed fire, and concluded that 
the preacher would get a shaking up after the service 
which would set him to thinking. 



26 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

And sure enough, after the benediction, Luther 
elbowed his way through the group that gathered 
around the parson to shake hands and trade smiles. 
As a matter of course I also moved near, for I was 
bound that not one word of what Luther said should 
escape me. When Luther got quite near the parson 
he made as if he would speak, but just then a dapper 
little man, whose eyes sparkled almost as brightly 
as the diamond on his ring, grasped the hand of the 
minister and shook it right heartily. He started to 
speak at once. Luther stopped short and looked on. 

"Doctor, I count myself fortunate indeed on being 
here to-night," said the dapper little man. "Let me 
congratulate you: that was an excellent discourse 
you gave us this evening — excellent, most excellent. ' ' 
And he pressed the parson's hand a little harder; but 
the demonstration seemed a trifle overdone, and, 
moreover, I thought I could see some mischief lurk- 
ing in his eyes. 

The parson took the compliment with that oily 
ease which showed that he had dealt largely in that 
kind of perfumery, and added that he was gratified 
to hear that the sermon was appreciated. 

"Yes," said the little man, "I would not have 
missed this sermon for a great deal, for — " 

"Ah, you are a very appreciative auditor," inter- 
jected the parson. 

"For you see, ' ' said he, taking up the broken thread 
of his conversation, "I have been coming fourteen 
blocks down town to church right along under the 



Luther at Church 27 

impression that there was some difference between 
Lutherans and other denominations and that convic- 
tions were worth maintaining even at considerable 
inconvenience; but I am very thankful for the ser- 
mon, very. You know that struggling little Baptist 
mission just opposite my house? Well, doctor, since 
it makes no difference, as you said to-night in such 
elegant language, why I '11 just quit coming down 
here and join that Baptist mission." 
"Oh, that was not meant just that way," countered 
the parson in a voice much like one who is out of 
breath and is taken with a sudden cramp besides. 
"Let me explain: ah, hum, yes, no, well, ah — " 

Luther laughed, turned on his heel and left the 
church. He evidently felt that the parson had been 
sufficiently punished. The fallacy of the preacher's 
position was so finely demonstrated and his look of 
discomfiture was so plainly visible that one could not 
help laughing at the folly of which he was guilty and 
the neat way in which he had been entrapped. There 
is something radically wrong with a sermon when 
such a small quantity of it will make the preacher 
himself sick if forced to swallow it. Little wonder 
that Luther laughed. 

Outside of the church I found the great Reformer 
in conversation with a member of the congregation, 
and the gist of the talk was that Luther wanted to 
enter the active ministry. When they parted, I heard 
this gentleman assure him with genuine Washington 
courtesy that he would bring him into touch with 



28 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

the officers of the General Synod and attend person- 
ally to all those little matters preliminary to a con- 
ference. So that was settled, and I was sorry for 
it, too. Well, everything, it seemed, was bound to 
go wrong that day — perversity was in the air. 

I started for the home of the brother with whom 
I was lodging, my mind fully made up to attend the 
meeting at which the General Synod's representa- 
tives would examine Luther. When I related the 
incidents of the evening to my genial host, he acted 
very much as if he thought I were patching a story 
together for his entertainment. When I insisted 
upon the truth of every word of it, I could not make 
out whether he thought I had found a bottle or lost 
my mind. And I do not marvel over that now; but 
at the time, with the whole experience fresh in mind, 
I little thought what a strong draft this whole mat- 
ter made on belief. Yet it is very irritating to have 
your truth looked upon as fiction, and so, feeling a 
deal piqued, I manufactured an excuse of the facts 
at hand — mark you, of the facts — and went up- 
stairs to my couch. 

But, as you would infer without the telling, I was 
in no condition for sleep. Thoughts rushed through 
my brain with lightning rapidity, and, with my ear 
against the pillow, I could hear the blood gurgling 
through my temples. After a while the bed seemed 
to be moving along in the air with the speed of a 
railway train in the direction towards which my feet 
were pointing — a sensation not at all unpleasant. 



Luther at Church 



29 



Thought literally devoured the night. Presently I 
was alarmed by a bright glow that covered the sky, 
for I thought all Washington was on fire. On going 
to my window, which looked toward the east, I found 
that the night was spent and that the sun's early 
rays had gilded heaven's dome and dropped some of 
its liquid gold on roofs and windows below. So, after 
dressing, I said my prayers and sat down by the case- 
ment in a brown study. What will come of all this? 
I thought. If the General Synod rejects him, will 
he knock at the Council's door? or at Missouri's 
door? Will they admit him if he does? This thing 
bids fair to make a pretty mess. 




@®?^@®®3S*S?S@®@ 




III. GETTING ACQUAINTED 

Hast thou no friend to set thy mind abroach? 

Good sense will stagnate. Thoughts shut up, want air, 

And spoil, like bales unopen'd to the sun. — Young. 

T took thirty days save one to 
bring about the conference be- 
tween the General Synod and Mar- 
tin Luther. The District President 
had some trouble in securing a 
committee. Had that not been the 
case, that worthy would certainly 
have felt out of place or out of 
office, and he would not have been sure that he was 
earning his postage. District Presidents always have 
troubles — inborn, inherited, inflicted, or incubated 
troubles. If there are any other kinds they have 
them, too. Of course the incubator is most prolific. 
If God were not omnipresent, omniscient and omnipo- 
tent, He would be kept busy overruling the blunders 
of District Presidents, and would have no time left 
for the rest of us. 

At first this brother, with the burden of all the 
churches upon him, tried to get a committee com- 
posed entirely of pastors; but the vacation season 
was close at hand and most of them declined to serve. 
He then turned to the professors. The schools were 
closed for the summer and these men were not at all 
(30) 



Getting Acquainted 31 

averse to taking a jaunt into the mountain regions 
of Pennsylvania, where the colloquium was to be 
held. Thus it came that men typical of the different 
schools of thought in the General Synod were on this 
committee, and that there was fine prospect for 
"much throwing about of brains," as Shakespeare 
would phrase it. 

Biding the time of meeting, I sojourned in Wash- 
ington. It is a city of no mean reputation for in- 
structive sightseeing. As for me, I am ready to set 
it down in black and white that Washington is a 
university in itself. But I paid a dear enough tui- 
tion fee for all I learned in those four weeks — paid 
for it with reputation. In other words, I came to 
be looked upon as a suspicious character. But you 
must not infer that I came into collision with that 
species of the official class which wears brass buttons, 
winks at lawbreaking saloon-keepers and draws a 
salary, for I would have you understand, once for 
all, that I am a law-abiding man and withal no wine- 
bibber, strange as this narrative may seem. The 
trouble came from a different source. I am almost 
ashamed to say it, but in sooth it came from such 
of mine own brethren as are by some strange illusion 
self-appointed spiritual policemen on limitless beats. 
And a singular set they are. There are many peculiar 
classes of people in this big world, to be sure; but to 
me not the least strange are those over-pious zealots 
who will knock a man down for the sake of getting 
an opportunity to act the part of the good Samaritan, 



32 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

and then give him a kick or two in addition that 
there may be a place to pour oil and wine. Into such 
hands did I fall, for certain brethren abroad con- 
cluded that I could not be tarrying unemployed in 
that city for any good purpose ; so, forsooth, it must 
be for a bad purpose, and with that suspicion they 
poisoned the minds of my kinsfolk and acquaint- 
ances. Even the kind-hearted brother with whom I 
was breaking bread was asked to keep a sharp watch 
on my going out and coming in. The wonder is that 
I did not boil over with righteous indignation, throw 
up the matter in hand and let go unrecorded the first 
utterances of Luther in the last four hundred years, 
as well as the most marvelous events which have 
occurred in church circles in many centuries. But 
wiser self-counsel prevailed. None the less, my heart 
smarts yet when I think of it, and it hurts all the 
more when I see that such sore criticism is part of 
the compensation of all who labor for general church 
bodies, be it on boards or in institutions, and that the 
faultfinding is all the worse the nearer the work, like 
mine, is done for nothing and the farther the detract- 
ors are stationed from the scene of action. This was 
a bitter ingredient to my cup of pleasure, and I was 
glad when the day dawned for the trip to the col- 
loquium — not that I thought this would put a stopper 
into the mouths of these uncorked asafetida bottles, 
but because my mind would henceforth be occupied 
largely with other matters. 

And now good fortune, or I should rather say 



Getting Acquainted 33 

Providence, for the sake of having these events re- 
corded, brought things my way. While paying for 
a ticket and catching breath, the train caller sang 
out the name of my train in that soft, Washingtonian 
brogue which oils our English so as to keep the r's 
from grating. Hurrying through the crowd, I got 
aboard just as the train pulled out. The coaches 
were filled, and I went forward to the smoker — where 
I would have landed anyway before the end of the 
journey. I like to smoke up a trip and have come 
to measure distances that way. For instance, Bal- 
timore is just a good smoke from "Washington. To 
light your havana in Washington and throw away 
the stump in Baltimore is a rather pleasant way of 
realizing that distance is about annihilated. In the 
smoker all the seats but one had two occupants, and, 
to my great surprise and gratification, that one was 
behind the seat occupied by Luther. It was a rare 
piece of good fortune: I did not think he would be 
on this train. But had I been one minute later I 
would have missed the train and with it the oppor- 
tunity which any man might covet — a car ride with 
Luther. 

With his clean-shaven face and clerical garb he 
looked every inch the priest. But I noticed he was 
not true to the type after all: he was off color, for he 
lacked that florid hue which comes from the mass 
fees that uncork wine-bottles and put surloins, thick- 
sliced and luscious, upon the gridiron for them who 
have taken the vow of poverty and chastity. Had 



34 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

the Irishman who sat in the seat with him known — 
but he did not, and so he was spared a spasm of holy 
horror, the trouble of crossing himself, muttering a 
curse, and repeating a string of Ave Marias and 
PaterNosters against the "arch heretic. " As it 
was, he thought he was sitting in the hallowed pres- 
ence of his reverence, a Romish parish priest. I took 
him to be an alderman, but whatever his vocation or 
avocation, he was a typical son of Erin with a face 
as round and genial as the full moon in harvest, a 
fringe of short sorrel whiskers all the way around 
under his jaw and a smile of remarkable elasticity. 
Pat, or if he be an alderman, Patrick, did what I 
had not the temerity to do — he set Luther to talking. 
Gathering up the sections of the paper over which 
he had been poring, he handed them to Luther, 
saying: 

"An' have ye sane the mohrnin' papur, yer river- 
ence? An' a fine load it is. More 'n Hennesy's goat 
can ate fer breakfast at the end o' Lent. The pranten 
press is one o' the whunders ov the whurreld." 

"The art of printing is the last and greatest gift 
by means of which God promotes the cause of the 
Gospel," said Luther as he took the paper. 

Seeing that his reverence was as innocent as a 
babe in such matters and knew not what a bundle 
of lies and venom was wrapped up in the sheets of 
paper in his hand, Patrick volunteered a little 
enlightenment. 

"But, yer riverence," said he, "the auld devil him- 



Getting Acquainted 35 

self has gone into the pranten' business; an' by St. 
Patrick, or if yez be a Dutchman, by the houly St. 
Boniface, a schlick wun the devil he is! The — " 

"Where God builds a church there the devil would 
also build a chapel," Luther commented. "The devil 
is always God's ape." 

"An' a schlick wun the devil he is," continued 
Patrick, stroking his chin. "I 've been a-wonderin' 
why the kelleges that show the whurreld the naces- 
sity of a kellege education by gavin' degrees to men 
who become great without a kellege schoolin' — I 've 
been a-wonderin' why those schmarrt Alecks don't 
give the auld devil a doctor's degree." 

"The devil indeed has not a doctor's degree," said 
Luther with a smile which faded like a patch of sun- 
shine when a cloud flits by, "but he is highly edu- 
cated and deeply experienced, and has, moreover, 
been practicing his art now nigh six thousand 
years." Patrick crossed himself and Luther con- 
cluded: "No one but Christ prevails against him." 

Now that Patrick had raised the devil in conversa- 
tion, he looked ill at ease and seemed overanxious 
to exorcise him by changing the subject. 

"An' what does yer riverence think uv the bluddy 
trusts?" he asked, tamping the tobacco which had 
burned low in his pipe. "I gave yez the papur for 
that rason. Bedad, they 've schtarted anuther wun. 
It 's trust pants that I 'm wearin', an' trust tobacco 
that I 'm smokin', an' trust bacon that I ate, an' it 's 
a trust coffin they '11 put me in when I 'm dead, an' 



36 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

when I get to purgatory — " But that was verging 
on forbidden ground. So Patrick called a halt on 
the humor which was beginning to assert itself and 
found a place for the interrogation mark by saying: 
"But what does yer riverence think uv the trust 
magnates — the bluddy trust magnates?" 

"They are all unvarnished thieves, robbers and 
extortioners," Luther declared without a moment's 
hesitation. 

"It's right ye are, father!" exclaimed the Irish- 
man, "it 's right ye are; but — " 

"But they catch us coming and going," interjected 
the traveler who occupied the seat with me. ' ' There 'U 
soon not be an independent dealer in the land." 

"Thieves, robbers, extortioners," Luther reiterated. 
"When some of them are not able to get a monopoly 
because others deal in the same wares and goods, 
they set out deliberately to sell their commodities so 
cheap that their competitors cannot meet their prices 
and thus force them to quit business or sell as low as 
they and so compass their own ruin. Thus they get 
a monopoly anyhow. These people — " 

"That has been one of the methods of Standard Oil 
from the beginning," interjected a traveling sales- 
man who was standing in the aisle. 

"These people are not worthy of being called men 
and living among human beings, ' ' Luther continued 
as the salesman perched himself on the arm of the 
opposite seat. "In fact, they do not deserve instruc- 
tion or admonition, for their greed is so palpable and 



Getting Acquainted 37 

shameless that they suffer loss for the sake of accom- 
plishing the ruin of others." 

"The government should be forenenst thim," said 
Patrick. 

1 ' The secular government would do right if it should 
confiscate all they have and drive them out of the 
country," Luther aflirmed. 

We were soon in a free-for-all discussion in which 
the great Reformer showed a remarkable knowledge 
of trusts and combines. When I thought it had been 
brought to a close, the salesman renewed it by say- 
ing with a good bit of feeling: 

"To my mind, the most damnable financiering of 
all is this cornering of the wheat market." 

"Yes," said Luther slowly and sorrowfully, "yes. 
On the last day Christ will say: 'I was a hungered, 
and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave 
me no drink. ' ' ' 

"It's little good it does them anyhow," observed 
my companion. "A man can only enjoy so much." 

"All they have of their swollen fortune is that they 
must be its slaves and guards," Luther added. "Of 
all goods you cannot use more than fills your paunch 
and covers your poor back. Hence, if God gives you 
wealth, use your portion of it as you use your share 
of water and let the rest pass on." 

"It 's right you are ag'in, father," said Pat. "An' 
it 's no rale pleasure they have. Bedad, it 's a bad 
conscience that's a-botherin' thim." 

"A bad conscience is hell itself, and a good con- 



38 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

science is paradise," Luther commented. "Happi- 
ness is nowhere save in a good conscience. What- 
ever other pleasure there may be cannot be perfect: 
it may tickle a man's hide, but it does not touch his 
heart. ' ' 

"There is another thing I have observed," said the 
man in my seat: "they, or their children, usually 
come to a bad end. ' ' 

"Hardly ever misses," added the salesman. 

"Fortune makes fools of people, ' ' said Luther, turn- 
ing his head towards the window. "It takes strong 
legs to bear up under prosperity. ' ' 

There was silence for a minute or so. Then a 
man, who was standing in the aisle and had taken 
no part in the discussion, addressed Luther. 

"All this sounds good to me," he declared, paving 
his way; "but men get into these things they hardly 
know how — at least some do. ' ' He was a large man 
and he was standing with his hands in his pockets. 
His fine appearance was mostly tailor-made. He 
looked like a man who had suddenly become rich, 
used his money as a passport to polite society and 
was doomed for the residue of his life to feel like a 
boy in trousers for the first time — proud, self-con- 
scious and awkward. "What course of action would 
you advise for a man who is in a combine?" 

"No man need ask how he can stay in such corpora- 
tions and keep a good conscience, ' ' Luther replied. 
"There is no other advice than that he quit them, 
and there the matter ends. If these combines are to 



Getting Acquainted 39 

continue, justice and honesty must perish; if justice 
and honesty are to survive, these combines must be 
dissolved. As Isaiah says, the bed is too narrow, 
one of them must fall out; and the blanket is too 
skimp to cover both. Yet I hope it has attained such 
height and weight that it can no longer support itself 
and that they must finally allow it to collapse." 

There was no dissent from this, and all settled 
down to their former employment. Luther gazed on 
the scenery along the way, the traveling salesman 
delved into the morning paper, the man in the seat 
with me relit his cigar, the little man in front of 
Luther was engrossed with his paper-backed book, 
and Patrick was beaming with smiles. And why 
should he not smile? Had he not been instrumental 
in showing these heretics what wisdom is stored in 
a parish priest's pate? After a bit he broke the 
silence by addressing the little man: 

"Faith, an' I asks pardon of yez; but may I not ask 
pohtely-loike what pretty story it be that 's a-holdin' 
ye spellbound?" 

"An exposure of Spiritualism by the Fox sisters," 
he replied curtly, and poked his nose deeper into the 
book. 

Patrick turned to Luther and spoke in an 
undertone. 

"Yer riverence," he asked, "what do ye think of 
this spook religion anyhow?" There was a quaver 
of awe in his voice. "Bridget, me darlint, and the 
4 



40 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

young ones have been hearin' a lot uv it from the 
neighbors. It 's thim that sez the ghosts rap on 
tables and write on slates and papur." 

The great German patiently explained this impos- 
ture to his Celtic companion, and concluded by say- 
ing that no one should give Spiritualists any credence 
whatever, for there is strong Biblical ground against 
all of their claims. 

"In the first place," he declared, "the Scriptures 
nowhere say anything at all about the souls of those 
not yet raised from the dead walking abroad among 
men, although everything else that is necessary for 
us to know has been revealed by Scripture. In the 
second place, it is plainly forbidden by Scripture 
(Deuteronomy eighteen, ten,) to enquire of the dead. 
And in the thirty-first verse of the sixteenth chapter 
of St. Luke it is plainly shown that God will not even 
let one rise from the dead to teach, because Moses 
and the prophets are at hand. I say this that we 
may be informed and not be misled by such tricks 
and lies as — ' ' 

I lost the concluding words of the sentence, for 
just then the salesman looked up from his paper and 
addressed the man at my side. 

"I see the mayor down home is after the resorts," 
said he. "He 's bent on segregating them." 

This gave rise to a discussion of the social evil, 
and the man who was reading the Fox sisters' book 
took an active part in it. He denounced its tolera- 
tion. Finally appeal was made to Luther. 



Getting Acquainted 41 

"My clerical friend," said he of the book, "this 
question falls in your sphere." 

"The Italians, and later some German canons also," 
Luther began, "asserted that fornication is no sin 
on the part of persons who are free and unfettered, 
but is a demand of nature which must be met. Clean 
minds will not take offence because I mention this, 
for I do not like to talk on these subjects; neverthe- 
less we must see to it that impetuous youth, inclined 
to sin without this, be not misled and ruined by such 
rotten arguments. Where society talks and lives 
that way, daily accustomed to vice, there, as Seneca 
says, we are powerless either to help or to advise. 
But take St. Paul's declarations and judge accord- 
ing to them. He says: 'Whoremongers and adul- 
terers God will judge.' And again: 'Be not deceived: 
neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor 
effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 
nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revil- 
ers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of 
God.' " 

"But there isn't a civilized government that 
doesn't wink at it," said the drummer. 

"Not all things which governments permit are 
good," Luther countered. "From the beginning of 
the world a wise ruler has been a rare bird, and a 
pious ruler a still rarer one." Then, resuming the 
subject, he said in part: "There is no need of devot- 
ing much argument to the houses of ill fame which 
are suffered to exist in large cities. It is plainly 



42 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

against God's law, and those who openly permit such 
shame should be regarded as heathens. That is a 
very lame reason which they advance when they say 
they are allowed for the purpose of minimizing adul- 
tery and licentiousness; for a young blade who has 
been in the company of lewd women and forfeited 
his honor and chastity will not forego any opportun- 
ity to associate with wives and virgins. Thus licen- 
tiousness is increased more than it is hindered, and 
those also fall into this sin who would likely have 
avoided it had it not been for the opportunities thus 
provided. ' ' 

This was uttered in a somewhat authoritative tone 
and nobody had anything more to say. 

Luther gazed out towards the mountains and 
tapped the metal arm of his seat as if keeping time 
for a procession of thoughts. "The world is an in- 
verted decalogue, ' ' he mused. Patrick sat with his 
arms folded and his lower lip lapped over the top 
one, hugely pleased that the "houly father" had no 
manner of use for trusts and spooks. Over the moun- 
tains a rain-storm had swept like a bridal veil of 
misty white, and now the rain was pattering unheard 
against the windows and scattering silvery blessing 
over the valley. 
"That is a beautiful storm," said Luther, breaking 
the silence. Then, looking upward, he said devoutly: 
"Thus Thou givest, unthankful and covetous though 
we be!" 

A peal of thunder crashed over us and we heard 



Getting Acquainted 43 

this sharp report of heaven's artillery above the din 
of the moving train. 

"That is a fruitful peal of thunder," was Luther's 
comment; "it has touched the earth and opened its 
treasure-house so that it emits a fragrant perfume 
just as the prayer of good Christians wafts up a 
sweet fragrance to God." 

Pious lessons like these were always at the tip 
of his tongue. His big heart must have been brim- 
ful of ardor, for almost anything could evoke a bright 
comment or a sweet-scented prayer, and both as fresh 
as the fragrance of a clover-field after a rain. Thus, 
you perceive, he was not a bit like those clerical Dr. 
Jekylls and Mr. Hydes who know how to go to con- 
ference and leave the preacher at home, a fine trick, 
to be sure — for a scamp ! 

"God be praised," exclaimed Luther, rising to his 
feet, "we are all here safe and sound." 

The train had stopped at our station and we left 
the coach in haste. Patrick raised the window, and, 
with a wave of the hand and a polite bow, said in 
his most unctious blarney: 

"May God bless ivery schtep uv yer riverence: and 
may yer last schtep bring ye to the gate of good St. 
Peter himself, bedad!" 

So be it, thought I; but just now we are going to 
the General Synod, and that is another thing. 



@©?SS®®S§*Si©S?^§J 



IV. THE DOCTORS DISAGREE 

Leave what you 've done for what you have to do ; 
Don't be "consistent" ; but be simply true. — Holmes. 




HE morning of the colloquium I 
rose late and reached the church 
an hour or more after the session 
had been opened. There were sev- 
eral reasons for this. As good for- 
tune would have it, mine was a 
snug room on the second floor of 
a little hostelry which had much of 
the simplicity of bygone days. Oaken woodwork, 
scrubbed white as a bone where patches of paint had 
been worn off; muslin window- curtains of snowy 
whiteness; furniture that had served wayfarers for 
a century or more; a small porcelain wall-clock with 
chains, and weights, and strokes like the cooing of 
a dove; an open fireplace, over it a mantel, high as 
a man's reach, on which there were brass candle- 
sticks, a kerosene-lamp and a glass filled with paper 
lighters; at the window a rose-bush that had spread 
over the side of the house and now and then, at the 
impulse of the breeze, swung through the casement 
a bunch of roses like a censer in the hands of nature's 
priestess, filling the apartment with rich fragrance — 
such was my room, a fit place to study or dream in. 
So I placed a chair in position for my feet, got 
(44) 



The Doctors Disagree 45 

just the right tilt for my rocker, lighted my pipe, 
and passed under a cloud of smoke through the 
depths of a good old tome while aU extraneous sounds 
were drowned in oblivion, like the clamorous Egyp- 
tians in the Red Sea. That is my way of doing these 
things. 

The little clock looked on with horror while it 
struck twelve, and one, and two, and three, and was 
not heeded. But fie upon him who will heed the admo- 
nitions of a piece of mechanism when the wise spirits 
of the ages are communicative! Know ye not that 
the hours after midnight belong to the aristocracy 
of readers? That is when Shakespeare is most ver- 
satile; when Goethe shows his best knowledge of 
human nature; when Longfellow is most delightful 
as a companion; when Hawthorne is at his best as 
romancer; ah, yes, it is after the midnight cockcrow 
that wine from the old literary casks has its finest 
sparkle and best flavor. And as for study, why even 
old Harless is lucid in his ethics after midnight, and 
the prophets, major and minor, cease their knottiness 
and become confiding friends. Men who fall asleep 
over a book — and I have it from trustworthy persons 
that there are such — may denounce these men of 
erratic hours; but as for me, I like the hound that 
will not give up the chase for the sake of his belly 
or kennel, and so, too, I like the man who, when he 
gets the scent of a new truth, will not give up the 
chase until he has that truth by the nape of the neck. 
However, since lazy dogs are in the majority in all 



46 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

professions, and people as a rule judge others by 
themselves, you had better, for the sake of your rep- 
utation, start your fox early enough in the morning 
to run him down before nightfall. But we seasoned 
inveterates will have to be left to our sweet folly and 
be forgiven if we miss a train occasionally or come 
late to conference. 

But to open a colloquium at half -past seven in the 
morning is an outlandish proceeding. No wonder I 
was late. But the General Synod people are active. 
They do things. And to be frank, I like them for 
their activity, even if now and then it is nothing more 
than drawing empty buckets out of empty wells. 
That is more dignified, and not a whit less profitable, 
than sitting down and sucking your thumb.* 

When I entered the basement where the brethren 
were in session, three committeemen with flushed 
faces were off to one side making gestures which 
looked as if they were trying to bridle wrath; three 
others, sitting on chairs which they had drawn to- 
gether, were likewise discussing some question which 
had upset their tempers and set their tongues to tee- 



*Alas and alack, gentle reader, I have forgotten — 
foot-notes ! But, true as I tell you, this is my first theo- 
logical book and a body can't get the theological knack 
all at once. However, hereafter I shall see to it that 
some statements in the text are sufficiently obscure to 
necessitate elucidation in learned foot-notes, that my 
book, when compared with other theological tomes, may 
not be found lacking in erudition and profundity! 



The Doctors Disagree 47 

tering; and another, who proved to be the secretary, 
was sitting at a table complacently reading a Lu- 
theran Observer. I had noticed a Lutheran 
World in the hand of one of the company to one 
side, and a copy of the Lutheran Evangelist 
on the knee of one of the group on the chairs. My 
instant conclusion, which proved to be correct, was 
that these men belonged to the three schools of Gen- 
eral Synod thought which these papers respectively 
represent — radical, conservative, mediating — and 
that the members of the committee could not agree. 
Luther was in the rear end of the room walking to 
and fro as if nervous and overmuch vexed. The 
secretary laid his Observer aside and said: 

"Why examine the brother in those abstruse dog- 
mas on which we ourselves disagree? Why not take 
up those points on which our grand old synod differs 
from the other Lutheran bodies?" 

Instantly the little man who had a copy of the 
Lutheran World wheeled around. 

"Infant baptism is not a disputed doctrine among 
real Lutherans!" he exclaimed. "Neither is it one 
of your 'abstruse dogmas' unless a man have an 
obtuse head. But — " 

"But the doctrine just stated in the applicant's 
reply is the veriest rot, ' ' put in a member of the rad- 
ical party, speaking in an undertone. "It 's hogskin 
theology, and sounds like a translation." * 

*This hue and cry against translations is a continuous 



48 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

"That 's the brother's old trick," rejoined the 
other. "Hogskin serves him the same purpose that 
an empty hole served Beecher's dog." 

"How so?" I whispered. I had gone over to shake 
hands with one of the conservatives. 

"Oh," he began with a smile, "Beecher had a dog, 
not much of a dog, either; but he had a tail at one 
end and a bark at the other. Well, after an all-day's 
fruitless hunt, that cur ran a ground-squirrel into a 
hole and then stood there and barked till he could n't 
bark any more. The next day he went out and barked 
at that hole again. And ever after that, when that 
measly cur did n't have anything else to do, he 'd go 
out to the same old hole and bark. And that 's how 
it is with these old scrappers: every time they 've got 
nothing else to do, they go out and bark at the old 
empty hole. And this one knows how — he 's been at 
it forty years. ' ' 

Well, the General Synod men are always interest- 
ing. Something is happening on their side of the 
fence all the time. If there is nothing else, there is 
at least a cock-fight, and when there is a cock-fight, 
it is a good one. 

What the point at issue was became clear to me 



performance. However, the trouble lies not in the thing 
itself, but in the way it is done. Poor Mother Church 
may well say with Denham: 

"Such is our pride, our folly, or our fate, 
That few, but such as cannot write, translate." 



The Doctors Disagree 49 

when the secretary, upon request, read the question 
and the applicant's answer. 

"The question," said the secretary, "was this: 
'Tersely stated, what do you believe concerning 
Baptism?' " 

"Yes, just so," interposed a radical. "That 's how 
I put it. You are becoming expert at shorthand." 

"And to this the brother answered: 'Baptism is not 
simply water, but it is the water comprehended in 
God's command and connected with God's word. It 
works forgiveness of sin, delivers from death and 
the devil, and gives everlasting salvation to all who 
believe it, as the word and promises of God declare, 
as St. Paul says, Titus, third chapter, According to 
His mercy He saved us by the washing of regenera- 
tion and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed 
on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.' ' ' 

"And that 's baptismal regeneration — infant bap- 
tism regeneration at that, I '11 wager," snapped the 
radical who hated hogskin. 

"And it 's Scripture," rejoined the conservative. 

"It strikes me," said the secretary in mollifying 
tone, while I wondered if there were another synod 
on God's green earth that would retain men who 
repudiate this doctrine, "it strikes me," he coun- 
seled, "that it would be the part of wisdom to drop 
this matter for the present and take up such ques- 
tions as Sunday observance, fellowship, temperance 
and the like. These are distinctive principles among 
us, living issues, not mummies wrapped in the wind- 



50 Little Journeys With Martin Lnther 

ing-sheet of centuries. If he does not agree with us 
on these points, what advantage is there in examin- 
ing him on the others?" 

This was acceded to, and Luther, who was still 
pacing back and forth in the rear end of the room, 
was called to the front by the chairman, who accosted 
him as Brother Martin. This was the first intima- 
tion I had that they did not know with whom they 
were dealing. And the same was true of all the peo- 
ple we met in all our journeys. I do not think Luther 
deliberately set out to deceive them, but probably 
gave them that name because it clung to him from 
the old country. 

"Well, Brother Martin," began the chairman in 
soothing-syrup tones, "we have concluded to com- 
pare notes with you on the doctrine pertaining to the 
Sabbath day. ' ' 

"In the New Testament," declared Luther with 
haste, apparently incensed at the theological garlic 
he smelt in the statement, "in the New Testament 
the Sabbath falls away according to its crass external 
form." 

' ' What! ' ' exclaimed several in one breath of horror. 

"In the New Testament all days are holy days 
among Christians and all days are free. Therefore, ' ' 
he continued, appealing to the Scriptures, as was his 
wont, "therefore Christ says: 'The Son of Man is 
Lord even of the Sabbath day.' Consequently Paul 
exhorts again and again that they should not allow 
themselves to be bound to any day. Galatians, chap- 



The Doctors Disagree 51 

ter four, verses ten and eleven, he says: 'Ye observe 
days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid 
of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain.' 
Again, to the Colossians, chapter two, verses sixteen 
and seventeen, even more cogently: 'Let no man 
therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect 
of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath 
days: which are a shadow of things to come.' " 

"But, sir, to observe the Sabbath is one of the de 
mands of the decalogue," exclaimed a member of the 
committee. 

I looked up. It was the stepbrother who had a 
copy of the LutheranEvangelistinhis pocket. 
Evidently he did not understand the difference be- 
tween things ceremonial and things moral, despite 
the clear passages just cited. Hence Luther tried to 
show them that the particular day belonged to the 
passing ceremonial and not to the everlasting moral 
law. How else can the change from Saturday to 
Sunday be explained or defended? It was to this 
that Luther pointed. 

"He who will make a necessary commandment of 
the Sabbath as a work demanded by God will have 
to keep Saturday and not Sunday," he said with 
considerable emphasis, "for it is Saturday that is 
demanded of the Jews and not Sunday. But up to 
this time the Christians have kept Sunday and not 
Saturday, because Christ rose from the dead on this 
day. Now this is a positive demonstration of the 
fact that the Sabbath concerns us no more, aye, nor 



52 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

Moses in toto; otherwise we should have to keep 
Saturday. This is pertinent and convincing evidence 
that the Sabbath is abrogated. Throughout the 
entire New Testament we do not find a single place 
where we Christians are commanded to keep the 
Sabbath." 

"Are we not told it is a holy day?" asked the 
chairman. 

"In itself one day is no better than another," Lu- 
ther replied. 

"Then why keep a fixed day at all?" 

"In the first place, on account of the physical rea- 
sons and needs which nature teaches and demands 
for the common mass of people, men-servants and 
maid-servants, who toil and moil all the week long, 
so that they also may have a day set apart for rest 
and recreation — " 

"Sabbath recreation! What sort of unholy anom- 
aly is this?" cried one. 

They all looked horrified. But was man made for 
the Sabbath, or the Sabbath for man? And further- 
more, would not a man who is confined to the desk 
or counter all week commit a sin against his body if 
he were to sit in the house all day instead of going 
out into the fresh air, taking a walk or hunting 
flowers? But Luther did not seem to mind the 
interruption. 

"And in the second place," he continued, "pri- 
marily for the purpose of enabling us to embrace 
time and opportunity on these Sabbath days, since 



The Doctors Disagree 53 

we cannot do it otherwise, to attend to divine service, 
so that we may assemble ourselves together to hear 
and expound the Word of God and then praise Him 
in song and prayer." 

"Then you do not favor a strict observance of the 
Sabbath; in fact, not the sanctifying of it, for you 
even allow recreation to the amiable cooks, hostlers, 
and all their allied tribes," said a member of the 
committee, betraying considerable sarcasm. The 
General Synod people prate much of charity, but I 
notice they are pretty waspy over there none the less. 
"But I beg your pardon. You evidently do believe 
in some sort of a sanctifying of the day. How, then, 
is this sanctification accomplished?" he concluded 
with something like a sneer. 

"How, then, is this sanctifying accomplished?" 
Luther repeated, showing his provocation slightly 
by employing the same tone and emphasis that his 
interlocutor had used. "Not by sitting behind the 
stove and performing no manual labor, nor by dec- 
orating the head with a wreath and dressing in the 
finest and best apparel, but, as I have said, by being 
engaged in the Word of God and exercising in it." 

This was followed by a fine discourse, in charming 
flow and cadence, on the Word of God. I did not 
wonder that a man with a voice like that could hold 
a hostile emperor and angry prelates unwilling cap- 
tives to his eloquence for two hours. 

"The Word of God is the sanctuary above all sanc- 
tuaries," he said in conclusion, "aye, the only one 



54 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

we Christians know or have. Even if we had all of 
the saints' relics, or all the holy and consecrated 
clothes together in a pile, it would still benefit us 
nothing, for it is all a dead thing which can sanctify 
no one. But the Word of God is the treasure which 
makes all things holy and through which all the 
saints themselves were sanctified, not on account of 
the external performance, but on account of the 
Word of God which hallows us all. For this reason 
I always say that our life and work must be gov- 
erned by the Word, if they are to be pleasing to God 
and called holy. Where this occurs, this command- 
ment exerts its power and is fulfilled. ' ' 

The impression made on the committee was unfav- 
orable. They evidently had kept company with 
Puritan doctors and had, for all I know, stolen their 
blue hose. The committeeman with whom I was 
acquainted, a fine, big specimen of man, who usually 
had his hands in the pockets of his trousers and his 
thoughts at the end of his tongue, came over to me. 

"We can't use this man," he said frankly, "he 'd 
better try you folks or Missouri. ' ' 

"But he has advanced nothing but the doctrine of 
the Augsburg Confession," I replied, "and your 
synod accepts the Augustana — " 

"Not without reservation," he answered blandly. 
1 'We are not inconsistent. ' ' So saying, he drew from 
his pocket a copy of The Distinctive Doc- 
trines and Usages of the Evangelical 
Lutheran Church in the United States. 



The Doctors Disagree 55 

"Look here," he said, pointing to a paragraph on 
page thirty-nine. There I read: 

"The doctrinal basis of the General Synod is given 
in its constitution and in a resolution adopted 
in connection with the declaration of its confessional 
requirement." That resolution follows and says: 
"This General Synod * * * maintains the divine 
obligation of the Sabbath." 

So it must be admitted that the General Synod 
was consistent with itself in its attitude toward Lu- 
ther; but is it at all right for them to say they have 
accepted the Augsburg Confession? In my humble 
opinion that is verbal juggling — conduct unworthy 
of ecclesiastics.* 

The committee gathered round the table. There 
was a hurried private consultation. The upshot of 
it all was that they were of one mind with reference 
to Luther: he was heterodox. 

"But we have the time," said one, "let 's go ahead 
and examine him on fellowship." 

"He is an entertaining talker and it is interesting 
to look at things from his view-point," added the 
secretary. 

*In 1913 the General Synod restated its doctrinal basis, 
expressing itself in a more conservative way. This, be it 
noted, is but fifteen years after the incidents recorded 
here. Verily, the General Synod is moving in the right 
direction. A century hence, it may be teaching the Syn- 
odical Conference Lutheran consistency. — Editor. 



56 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

"Sooth, sirrah, an you like this nozzling around in 
theology's charnel-house," the man with the copy 
of the Evangelist counseled in mocking tone, 
"and now would fain enter in upon the fallow domain 
of reine Praxis, therefore, by all means, I pray 
you, have speech with him on the momentous ques- 
tion of orientation, for when that is settled we can 
all turn our backs on our congregations in real ortho 
dox superiority." 

My big companion gave me a nudge with his 
elbow and whispered: 

"If we could get that old codger to compile an 
unexpurgated dictionary of ecclesiastical terms * 
'twould be a gem. ' ' 

"A gem, no doubt; but bear in mind," said I, in- 



*This hint is worthy of serious consideration. For 
the sake of our laymen and ministerial fledglings we 
should have a manual which would define terms plainly 
after the manner that here followeth: 



BellyeTolence — An exquisite bar- 
barism denoting' church, sup- 
pers and the like. 

Bother — A corrupt form of 
brother. 1. A pestiferous 
spirit in the church. 2. A 
member of another synod. 

Brain-fag — A disease which bids 
fair to take the place of cler- 
gyman's sore throat in minis- 
terial favor, because it is sup- 
posed to prove, 1. that a man 
has brains, and 2. that he 
uses them. 

Choir — A thing of discord em- 
ployed to produce harmony. 

Giving — A means of grace among 



sects and a means of disgrace 
among Lutherans. 

Hogskin — 1. Leather formerly used 
in bookbinding. 2. Figura- 
tively, sixteenth century the- 
ology. 3. Literally, a cause of 
colic to the heterodox. 

Stinkpot — Compounded of B t. and 
inkpot; hence, a saint given 
to defamatory polemics. A 
term much used by British 
Methodists of the eighteenth 
century. 

Synoditis — An ecclesiastical hallu- 
cination which takes a part 
for the whole and never con- 
fesses a fault. 



The Doctors Disagree 57 

tending to twit him, "Michael durst not rail against 
the devil, and this man is your synodical brother, or, 
at least, stepbrother." 

"Oh my, no," he rejoined hastily, "not a step- 
brother, but a full bother in the Lord." 

This byplay now came to an end, for the chair- 
man looked up and asked: 

"Brother Martin, what is the Sacrament of the 
Altar?" 

"It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, under the bread and wine, for us Christians 
to eat and to drink, instituted by Christ himself." 

"Put in that bald way it smells of hogskin," ex- 
claimed the brother who did the barking, and who, 
if not the prophet's "dumb dog in Zion" — for he 
could whine — was at any rate not a knowing one.* 

"Never mind that now: we need not enter upon 
that at all, ' ' said the questioner. Then, turning to 
Luther, he continued: "What we have in mind is 
the question of altar-fellowship. In this land most 
denominations practice open communion. Do you 
look at that as a matter of serious moment?" 

*We question if any other section of the general body 
was as latitudinarian as the Pennsylvania synod in which 
this scene took place. However, characters like these 
held forth in other sections also. For instance, not more 
than ten years ago, a doctor of divinity, through the in- 
strumentality of a church paper, advocated the use of 
warm water instead of wine in the Lord's Supper. — 
Editor. 



58 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

"This is no doubt true," Luther replied, "that 
where preachers distribute nothing but bread and 
wine as the sacrament, it is of little moment to whom 
they give it." 

"But take the subject from our side — our commun- 
ing with them, or their communing with us. What 
do you hold of that?" 

"It is shocking to me to hear that in one and the 
same church, or at a common altar, both parties 
should seek and receive the same sacrament, and 
one party believe that it receives sheer bread and 
wine, and the other that it receives the true body 
and blood of Christ. And I often question if it is 
to be believed that a preacher or pastor can be so 
hardened and bad as to be silent in — " 

"To bring the matter to a close," broke in the ex- 
aminer, "would you administer communion to a Cal- 
vinist or to any other person who does not accept 
the doctrine of the Real Presence? What do you 
say?" 

Luther's patience seemed to be clean gone. 

"Whoever, I say, will not believe this," he replied 
deliberately and emphatically, all the while shaking 
his index-finger, "whoever, I say, will not believe 
this should let me alone, and he need not expect 
any fellowship with me. Thus stands the sentence 
which is not to be altered." 

"This will suffice," said the brother with the hog- 
skin antipathy, turning to his fellow examiners, 
"The applicant has made his position plain, eh?" 



The Doctors Disagree 



They nodded assent. 

Luther was then informed that he was at liberty 
to withdraw and that he would be apprised of the 
committee's decision so soon as it was reached. Our 
General Synod friends are politic: they let a man 
down easy— when they have good reason to be afraid 
of him. 

Luther was scarcely out of the door when my 
frank friend began to upbraid the committee. 
"Look here, I protest!" he vociferated. "That was 
only a half examination. In these days, when min- 
isters are expected to do most of their work with 
their feet instead of their heads, it is nothing short 
of a sin to examine a candidate's head and not look 
at his feet. Why didn't you examine his feet and 
act up to the standard of your own requirements?" 

This was evidently intended as a thrust at some- 
body who used more neat's-foot oil than brains in 
his ministry, but that somebody kept discreetly 
silent. However, to me it seems to be a very sensible 
suggestion, and I humbly commend it to the atten- 
tion of theological faculties and examining boards. 
If one-half or more of the work is to be done with 
the feet, then I insist upon it that the feet should be 
examined. It is manifestly unfair, under present 
conditions, to palm off on an innocent, unsuspecting 
congregation a preacher who has flat feet or corns. 
The congregation may, in various ways, learn of his 
mental qualifications, of his age, of the size of his 
family and of the temper of his great-grandmother; 



60 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

but as things now stand it has no way of ascertain- 
ing whether he be sound of foot. Besides this, if a 
committee were to examine the feet of students be- 
fore matriculation and again ere they leave the sem- 
inary, and if synods would then place this weighty 
matter into the hands of conscientious Visitators, 
it would also promote the laudable practice of foot- 
washing, please the Dunkards and promote the cause 
of those who, as Dr. Krauth would say, want to unite 
the Church to pieces. It is really a brilliant idea. 
But — is a hint to a theological faculty enough? 

So far as the committee was concerned, it had 
already adjudged Luther to be heterodox. As they 
saw it, all they had yet to do was to agree on some 
courteous way of getting rid of him, and this they 
did. The secretary was instructed to inform him 
that there was at present no opening in the General 
Synod which would in any manner do for a man of 
his fine talents, but that he might find an opening in 
the General Council or in the Missouri Synod. 

Thus ended Luther's first attempt to join a Lu- 
theran synod in this country. Was I not right when 
I said this thing would make a pretty mess? And 
the end was not yet in sight. 



@@S5S®@0§2S?§S§?®^ 



V. OVER THE MOUNTAINS 

And this our life exempt from public haunt 

Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 

Sermons in stones and good in everything. — Shakespeare. 




HE next colloquium was to be held 
with the United Synod of the 
South at a place which was little 
more than a name away back in 
the mountains of Virginia. Why 
a Southern synod came next I 
know not, unless it was because 
the District Presidents in the 
North were so very slow in answering Luther's let- 
ters. That is a way these Northern lights have. 
They get it not so much from the dignity of the office 
with which they are vested as from the character 
of the bodies to which they belong. Conservatism is 
by far the best horse in the stable, but it is exceed- 
ingly hard to hitch up. But why that out-of-the-way 
corner of the earth was selected as the meeting-place 
is beyond my ken. It may have been some sort of 
concession or accommodation to the aged member 
of the Tennessee Synod who was on the examining 
committee and lived in Virginia; but, like the rest 
of us, he also had a long distance to travel. But be 
the reason what it may, it was down in Dixie and 
away back in the mountains that the next confer- 
(61) 



62 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

ence was to be held, and thither we wended our 
way. 

We went to New Market, a pretty little town in 
the Shenandoah Valley. It still bears scars of the 
Civil War, and its people, like old soldiers, are proud 
of those scars. While in the printing- office to see 
the wooden hand-press * on which the first English 
Book of Concord was printed, Luther made an 
observation which I have often recalled when every- 
thing seemed to be wrong end to and God's care a 
sorry enigma. 

"God has touched me sorely, and I have been im- 
patient," he said, referring to his chronic ailment, 
renal stones, I think; "but God knows better than 
we do what good purpose it serves. ' ' He was leaning 
over a newspaper form on the imposing-stone and 
was trying to read it. "Our Lord is like a printer 
who sets up the letters backwards, and down here 
we are constrained to decipher them that way; but 
when we are struck off up yonder in the life to come, 
we shall read all clear and straightforward. In the 
meantime we must have patience." 

The next morning, before the rising of the sun, 
we were well on our way to the mountains. 

"I can beat you to yon red oak," I bantered, for 
my horse was in fine fettle. 



♦This press, one of the most interesting Lutheran 
relics in the land, is in the printing establishment of the 
Henkel Brothers. 



Over the Mountains 63 

"Nay," he said laughingly, "a righteous man re- 
gardeth the life of his beast." 

"Ah, let her go: she wants to." 

"We Germans say," he countered, "you should not 
ride a willing horse too hard." 

So, though Luther sat his horse well, we jogged 
along at an easy gait. But it was all he could do to 
hold his mare in when a dog ran barking at her heels. 
When we got by that plantation house, he said: 

"The dog is the most faithful of all animals. He 
understands words, likes to be with man, guards him 
faithfully and—" 

His mount shied at some pigs on the road. 

"But a hog is an intractable brute, incapable of 
learning to know anything but filth. It will not stay 
in a clean, wholesome place: it revels in dirt." 

That reminded me of the Chinese emperor who 
tried to train a hog to be nice and clean, but failed, 
and was then helped by a fairy who took out the 
heart of the hog and put the heart of a lamb in its 
place. Luther liked the story. I did not have to 
point the moral 

"Create in me a clean heart, God, and renew a 
right spirit within me," he quoted, and then added 
the gloss: "But it does not stand in our power to 
procure such a heart, for it is a work of God. That 
is why the Holy Ghost uses the word create here. ' ' 
Then he took up the subject of fables, saying that 
he liked .ffisop passing well. What gave rise to the 
fable? "Not only children, but also great princes 



64 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

and lords are not easily induced to listen to the truth 
for their own profit," he said. "Yea, all the world 
dislikes the truth when it strikes home. That is why 
wise and noble people have invented fables and let 
one animal talk with another. It is as much as if 
they were to say: Well and good, since no one will 
hear and heed the truth and we can in no wise get 
along without it, we will garb the truth in the guise 
of the fable; and so, since they will not accept the 
truth from the lips of men, they shall hear it out of 
the mouths of beasts." What about their author- 
ship? "That they are accredited to ^Esop," he said, 
"is in my opinion a fiction. Mayhap there never 
was such a man as .flSsop. I hold they were produced 
by many wise people in the course of ages, piece by 
piece, and ultimately collected by some learned 
man." What of their worth? " This book of fables, " 
he declared, "is valued highly by the learned of all 
the world, especially by those of old. And sooth to 
say, even at this day, I do not know many books, 
aside from the Bible, that excel this volume in mat- 
ters pertaining to outward life." 

Then he told me that he had tried his hand at 
turning .flCsop into German. 
"I like to read the stories of the fox and wolf," he 
said. "It is fine when one scamp outwits another. 
That also is neat where a colt meets a wolf. The 
wolf asks the colt who it is and whither it is bent. 
It answers that it knows neither the one nor the 
other, but that its father has inscribed both on its 



Over the Mountains 65 

hind hoof, if so be his wolf ship cares to read it, and 
straightway the wolf felt a kick on the forehead. 
Writhing in death the wolf said: 'It serves me right, 
for I should be a hunter and not scrivener.' " 

Thus we rode on in the gray light swapping 
stories, and so we came to the subject of presump- 
tion, which Luther pointed thus: 

"The first time Count Ernst of Mansfield heard 
A Mighty Fortress is Our God, he fumed: 
'I will help to demolish that fortress or die!' Three 
days, and lo, he was dead. 'Be not deceived, God is 
not mocked. ' ' ' 

And now the sun had thrown away the black can- 
opy of night and stood tiptoe on the distant peak, his 
gold and carmine mantle trailing along the range. 

"It is a great miracle!" exclaimed Luther. 
He pulled rein, gazed and listened. 

"At the rising of the sun, birds sing, beasts move, 
men rise," said he. "It seems as if all the world 
were made new and all things reanimated when the 
sun flings his banner along the horizon. 'Tis for this 
reason that the cheering proclamation of the Gospel 
is in many places in the Scriptures compared with 
the rising of the sun. ' ' 

"But it is only the habitual late riser who really 
enjoys a sunrise," I remarked. "Those greedy mor- 
tals who use up every bit of God's daylight, must 
lose this pleasure, just as a toper loses the fine flavor 
of old wine." 

Luther did not gainsay me: he simply laughed. 



66 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

"Verily," quoth he, "sleep is a precious gift of God 
which falls upon man like dew and refreshes the 
whole body." Then he gave me one of those knowing 
looks of his and said: "Good rules of health accom- 
plish much. For example: I feel exhausted. If I 
observe my usual rule, retire at the ninth hour and 
get my rest, I am refreshed. ' ' 

Aha, thought I, the cat is out of the bag. And I 
liked him all the more, for now I knew that he too 
stayed up late occasionally and that synodical sleepy- 
heads certainly talked about him. But his mind was 
on the dayspring. 

"'Tis a great miracle," he reiterated; "but it has 
become so much a matter of course that we think it 
could not be otherwise. For the same reason it is 
no marvel to us that wine and corn are produced 
each year. 'Twere meet that these and other won- 
ders of God," he said with a wave of the hand 
towards the maize and wheat-fields along the road, 
"should arouse our faith; for that wheat and other 
produce should come out of the earth is as great a 
miracle as if God to this very day gave us manna 
from heaven; but it does not look that way, because 
that which is of regular occurrence grows common 
and is thus demeaned and little noted. ' ' 

This led the conversation to farmers. "The hus- 
bandman's work is the happiest," said he, "and full 
of hope withal; for harvesting, plowing, sowing, 
planting, grafting, mowing, threshing, wood-cutting 
— all that hath great hope. And so Vergil writes: 



Over the Mountains 67 

'Ah, how happy the farmers would be if they recog- 
nized their blessings!' But they will not realize how 
well off they are." He seemed to be embittered. 
"The farmer has very thievish nails on his fingers 
and is no boor at all, but doctor enough, when it 
comes to looking out for himself. ' ' He was especially 
hard on the ingratitude of the tillers. "The farmers 
are not worthy of so much blessing and fruitage of 
the earth," he declared. "I thank God more for a 
tree or bush than the peasants do for all their broad 
acres." When I remonstrated mildly, he replied: 
"Where you find one pious Christian farmer who 
shows his poor neighbor or indigent pastor Christian 
charity by giving, loaning, counseling or assisting 
him in need, you will, on the other hand, find a thou- 
sand unchristian farmers who will not give a penny 
to pastor or neighbor though they suffer pangs of 
hunger." 

"I think that's the place," said I, pointing to a 
house at the forks of the road; "hope our guide is 
there." 

Luther's eyes dwelt wistfully on the cottage, 
which seemed as indigenous to the spot as the trees 
and bushes by which it was surrounded. 

"If I were not in the service of God and in the bonds 
of matrimony," he said pensively, "I would hie me 
away, and no one should know whither I had gone. 
The world cannot brook me and I cannot brook the 
world." 

I was right: it was the place. In a trice our lank 



68 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

guide mounted his lank horse and we jogged on. He 
was a typical mountaineer and carried a gun long 
and lank like himself. Soon the road grew rough 
and then, as we traveled up the gap, still rougher, 
and finally we had stretches of it that were like the 
stony bottom of a dry stream. 

An idiotic-looking man and a yoke of oxen came 
lumbering along. They brought a load of logs and 
a text. 

"Is it not an utter shame," Luther commented, 
"that, according to the divine judgment, the ox and 
the ass are not compared with us but are actually 
placed before us because they do their duty towards 
their masters? And ought not we to be responsive 
to the directions of our God? Therefore we should 
uncover our heads in the presence of oxen and 
asses as we do in the presence of our teacher, 
since we see that God has placed them before us 
that we may learn from their example how to honor 
Him." 

He then spoke of the ox-driver. In his opinion, 
the number of defective mountaineers he had thus 
far seen indicated that these backwoodsmen were 
violating the laws of nature by intermarriage and 
by the mating of the unfit. He condemned this in 
scathing terms and spoke at length and with consid- 
erable warmth on the subject of eugenics. 

"I have observed that a defective man begets de- 
fective children," he concluded. "They desire to 
marry and will fill the country with beggars. They 



Over the Mountains 



should be cured of this, for they afflict the land and 
have no other thought than — " 

"That's a pesky poor patch o' corn," interjected 
our guide, jerking his goatee; ' ' 'spect the fool fellow 
planted in the wrong sign." 

"To put faith in planets is idolatry," Luther re- 
joined: "it is against the first commandment." 

"Waal, I reckon we '11 not argue that pint: I plant, 
an' you brace o' Yankees eat." 

"It is a rather common belief," said I, for the sake 
of easing the situation. "Many people are governed 
by the phases of the moon in the work of gardening 
and farming." 

"Superstition," Luther replied, "is a baneful king 
who has reigned in the world at all times, and his 
sway is gladly accepted." 

"Waal, I '11 give in to this much," said our moun- 
taineer, "no signs could help out much in a patch 
covered with stones like this 'n is. But farmin' 's 
gittin' to be pro'g'ous unsartain everywhare. It's 
nothin' but fightin' for yer belly 'gainst bugs an' 
weeds. I'm 'bout minded to quit all — " 

"Farming," said Luther quickly, turning to the 
guide, "is a divine employment which God has com- 
manded, saying: 'Replenish the earth and subdue it.' 
Even though it bring forth thorns and thistles, be 
not dismayed, your portion shall grow none the 
less." 

"That corn-patch wasn't no better 'n this here 
wheat-field," declared our companion. 



70 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

The field looked as if some paddy had scattered 
ballast over it, and yet, for all that, the stubble 
showed that some son of Adam had gathered from 
it a fair crop of wheat. Luther looked, and straight- 
way had a text. After all, he declared, the won- 
der-working God is all the time turning stone into 
bread. 

"That He gives us wheat from sand and stone is 
probably a greater miracle than that in the Gospel 
where He feeds the multitude with seven loaves," he 
said. "For what else is dry sand than an ingredient 
of stone, or stone other than solidified sand and 
earth?" Just then the small stack of straw caught 
his eye. "It is claimed, and I am inclined to believe 
it, that not as many sheaves are produced as there 
are people in the world." He paused, then added 
very significantly: " 'Man shall not live by bread 
alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the 
mouth of God.' " 

At our closer approach, a multitude of sparrows, 
gleaning Ruth-like in the field, took fright and rose 
like a cloud before us. They gave Luther a sec- 
ondly for the homily just begun. And why not? 
They gave the Master an illustration. 

"No one," said Luther, "can compute the great 
expense to which God is put merely in feeding the 
birds. I am convinced that it annually costs Him 
more to maintain the sparrows only than the revenue 
of the French king amounts to. No man can compute 
how much it costs God to feed the world a single day. 



Over the Mountains 71 

Now, then, how many days have there been since the 
beginning of the world? And still we do not want 
to trust Him!" 

We soon entered a ravine, walled with beetling 
rocks and stunted shrubs, and followed the windings 
of a brook. It was a dank place, littered with moss- 
covered logs and stones, and rank with ferns. Lu- 
ther touched on these things, but reverted to the 
fowls of the air. Perhaps it was the trilling of a 
song-sparrow in the foliage overhead that led him 
back; perhaps just the preacher instinct. 

"We should not forget this illustration of the 
birds," he said, his eyes sparkling. "We should not 
forget this illustration of the birds," he reiterated. 
"They are free of all worry and are chipper and gay. 
And why should they be solicitous? They have a 
rich steward whose name is Our Father in Heaven. 
He hath a kitchen as wide as the world. Therefore, 
fly whithersoever they will, they find the larder well 
stocked. This selfsame Heavenly Father, says Jesus, 
would fain be your steward and butler, if ye would 
but believe it or have it so. He also furnishes tan- 
gible proof of this and giveth you productive fields, 
and full cribs, cellars and barns — giveth you count- 
less more than He giveth the birds. Then why do 
you not want to trust Him? Do as the birds do: 
learn to believe, sing and be of good cheer. Ye are 
in fact most unhappy with your cares when ye do 
not trust God." 
6 



72 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

"It is true," commented our mountaineer, "God 
is good," and slid from his horse. 

"I think that is how we Germans came of yore to 
derive the name God from the little word good," 
said Luther to me. And he might have added, "you 
English, too." 

"It's a right smart climb up the mountain," 
drawled our woodsman. "We '11 set down here first 
by this here spring an' eat a snack." He looked for 
the sun. "I doan see it, but it is a quarter past twelve 
by my stomach." 

Luther's comments, pious, pithy, plentiful, were 
much the better part of that lunch. When he stepped 
to the spring, he frightened a ground-sparrow from 
its nest. 

"Ah, dear little bird," he exclaimed, "don't fly 
away! I wish you well with all my heart, if you 
would only believe me. Even so we refuse to trust 
in God, who, far from wishing us harm, has given 
His own Son for us." 

He got down on his knees to look at the nest in 
a tuft of grass. 

"Behold the fledgling," cried he, "and 'twas all 
held in the compass of an egg\ Had we never seen 
an egg, and one were brought us from Calcutta, we 
would all marvel at it. No savant or learned nat- 
uralist can tell with certainty how such things are 
created, but Moses does when he says: 'God said'; 
and again, 'God blessed them, saying: Be fruitful 
and multiply.' Out of this speaking and command- 



Over the Mountains 73 

ing all creatures come and multiply even to this 
day." 

Then he filled the gourd dipper and, holding it 
aloft, exclaimed: 

"Dear Lord, what a noble drink is Thy gift of 
water which excels all wines!" 

I wished Thomas Hood,* the Irish humorist, and 
others of his kidney, could have heard that and sim- 
ilar remarks; but — Hood is dead, and Luther lives. 
That is significant. 

We led our horses up the mountain. Luther car- 
ried a red flower which he had plucked near the 
spring. When we had ascended about three-fourths 
of the way, I noticed that he stopped short, removed 
his hat, and looked with solemn mien to a small farm 
hanging to a spur opposite us. They were carrying 
a dead man out. So, too, have I seen Englishmen 
raise their hats as they passed a house with crape 
on the door. 

1 'When you are in the presence of a corpse or attend 
a funeral," Luther remarked, as we sat down at the 
foot of a rock, "you have good reason to ponder the 
fact that you are a human being. What has over- 
taken your fellow man will also one of these days 
catch up with you." 

*"My next thought settled upon Luther, to whom, 
perhaps, Wittenberg owed the jovial size of the very 
article I have been drinking from, a right Lutheran beer- 
glass, at least a foot high, with a glass cover." — Up 
the Rhine. 



74 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

"See," said I, "they are going to bury the corpse 
there at the edge of the orchard. I don't like these 
private burial-places: a generation or two, and they 
are briar-patches." 

"Before the times of the martyrs," Luther replied, 
"the Christians interred their dead in fields, gardens 
and buildings. After that more reverence was shown 
and special plots and the yards of churches were set 
apart as burial-places. ' ' 

They interred the body without any sort of funeral 
service. Our guide explained that a minister can 
rarely be had for a burial in the mountains. But 
Luther took it none the less amiss. They might at 
least have repeated the Lord's Prayer. 

"Among the heathen impressive ceremonies were 
rendered in connection with burial," he affirmed. 
"Much more should this be the custom among Chris- 
tians on account of the article of our faith on the 
resurrection of the body. It should not look as if 
we died and were lugged away like horses and asses. ' ' 
He then spoke of tombstones and said we Chris- 
tians should chisel Scripture passages on them. 
"Such inscriptions," he declared, "would adorn the 
cemeteries better than secular emblems — shield, hel- 
met, and so on." 

"So that 's the end— six foot by three," said our 
guide dolefully, his eyes fixed on the yellow mound, 
which looked like a wound on the breast of Mother 
Earth. " 'Taint much." 

"The grave is to be regarded as nothing less than 



Over the Mountains 75 

a downy couch," Luther answered, "even as in very 
truth it is in the eyes of the Lord, who says: 'Our 
friend Lazarus sleepeth'; and, 'The damsel is not 
dead, but sleepeth.' " 

His eyes chanced to fall on the flower in his hand. 
It was wilted. 

"This life is aptly compared to a flower," said he 
sadly, as he tossed the blossom away. "It has charm- 
ing color and delightful fragrance while it unfolds, 
but it loses both ere the sun goes down." 

Then he rose suddenly, and, with a piece of soft, 
red stone, wrote all over the face of the rock: 
Vivit! Vivit! Vivit! Asked what he meant, he 
answered: 

"Jesus lives! If He did not, I would not care to 
live one hour. But because He lives we also shall 
live through Him, as He himself says: 'Because I 
live, ye shall live also.' " He made one of those elo- 
quent little breaks of his, and then exclaimed tri- 
umphantly: "Aye, we shall live again!" 

We resumed our journey and reached the top 
without a break. 

"Now we kin ride a stretch," said our guide: it is 
tolerable level-like. ' ' 

We did so. A little later, a she-wildcat, lean and 
ugly looking, came out of the bushes and slunk into 
the underwood on the opposite side of the road. Our 
man pulled rein. We did likewise. 

"A mean critter that was," said he. "But there 
aint no partic'lar danger. They doan tackle humans 



76 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

unless they haf to." Then apologetically, "I didn't 
see her in time to get a crack." 

"What is the most dangerous beast in this neck 
of the woods?" I queried. 

"Waal, you doan want to git in a fight with them 
'ere cats or with b'ars — you '11 likely git worsted." 

"When Diogenes was asked, 'Which is the most 
dangerous beast?' " interjected Luther, "he replied: 
'Among wild animals the tyrant; among tame ones, 
the flatterer.' " 

"Exactly," said I; but our mountaineer said: 

"We aint got none of them two kind o' critters in 
these here mountains — leastwise I never see one and 
never see a man as had one o' their pelts; but we 've 
some b'ars left, an' I killed a mess o' them in my day 
and gineration." 

Touch upon hunting ever so remotely and your 
mountaineer is primed. 

"I have the record hereabouts, even if I, as 
ought n't to, say it myself." Then there was a story 
of prowess to follow, to be sure. "You see, me an' 
Ebenezer Crow was huntin' an' it was tolerable cold- 
like. We got a buck, an' when we come home, says 
I to Ebenezer, 'I reckon my feet is froze.' An' sure 
enough, both my little toes came off from that 'ere 
freeze. A man doan like to lose anything that is 
hisn, an' I toted them 'ere toe jints around in my 
pocket well-nigh a year, an' felt sort o' kind to 
'em. Then, one afternoon when I was comin' in 
from a hunt, with three as nice turkeys as you ever 



Over the Mountains 77 

sot eyes on, there was a b'ar jist makin' his supper 
on one o' my pigs in a lazy sort o' way. Ne'er a 
bullet was left. The last one was in that big gobbler. 
Then I chanced to feel o' the toe jints in my pocket. 
Quick as wink I poured a big charge into my old 
smoothbore, put one o' them 'ere jints on top an' 
let fly. Say, that old b'ar jined the Jews right thar 
on the pork-eatin' question." Then, with a signifi- 
cant wink, he concluded: "Reckon I have the world's 
record. No other man ever killed a strappin' big 
he-b'ar with his little toe." 

"In all likelihood not," said I, "unless it was 
Muenchhausen. Say, are you a Lutheran?" 

"Naw," he drawled. "I was, but I 've been con- 
verted these thirty year an' more." 

Luther smiled, but I kept my face straight. 

"As fer shootin '-irons, I 've got the best ones in 
these here parts, not leavin' out Ebenezer's." So 
saying, he took the gun from his back and eyed it 
fondly. 

"Adam would have died of grief," said Luther, 
looking at the gun, "could he have foreseen the 
instruments his children have made." 

"I be not sayin' that be not so," drawled our 
mighty hunter, "but I reckon a human's got no 
better friend in a pinch." 

Simultaneously the gun went to his shoulder, whiz 

went a bullet, and a wildcat bit the dust before us. 

Our horses reared. Luther stuck to his saddle 

like a seasoned cavalryman, but I fell, fortunately 



78 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

without any injury, save that which Luther did my 
feelings by laughing at me. 

"Hereafter I shall know better," I said. 

"We all pay tuition fees to sorry experience," * he 
commented kindly. 



♦This is (no, don't be alarmed, it will not bite), this 
is a prosopopoeia, that is, a metaphor in which 
things peculiar to man are attributed (a) to fictitious 
things, or (b) to those destitute of sense. Attention is 
called to this, 1. because you could not suck it out of your 
thumb; 2. because you should know from the outset that 
this work contains everything that the learned in Europe 
and America put into a book; and 3. because it must be 
made plain to all that this volume is not to be criticized 
as non-theological works are. For instance, if in these 
pages I attribute sense to a brother who has none, that 
is not a vulgar lie, but it is a glorious prosopo- 
poeia. (See (b) above.) Likewise, if an overabundance 
of words is used I am giving you a pleonasm; if the 
elegance of the sentence is not thereby impaired, 'tis a 
parelcon you get ; and if a word or phrase is omitted, 
it 's an ellipsis that hath been manufactured. Where 
you find that I have cleverly yoked contraries together, 
there open your eyes, for I am leading into the verbal 
cavalcade an oxymoron. Indeed you will find in this 
book all the varieties of these things even down to the 
anakephalaeosis. But wherever, by design or acci- 
dent, I write English as if I had not been brought up 
among Germans or Scandinavians, that is, according to 
the best continental authority, an i d i o t i s m u s. This 
latter, by the way, also explains why Lutheran books are 
usually so much harder to read than those of other 
denominations : our men keep out the idiot-ismus! 



Over the Mountains 79 

We gathered around our quarry. She had scented 
the morsels of meat in our pack, followed us under 
cover of the bushes, then dared to come out for a 
mouthful and found — death, the one thing on earth's 
bill of fare that appeases hunger forever for cats and 
men. Luther touched her with his foot and thought 
of her Creator. 

"God works at all trades in the best and most thor- 
ough way," he reflected. "As a tailor He makes a 
coat for the deer which wears many years, and as 
a shoemaker he furnishes it with foot-gear which 
lasts longer than it does. Likewise He stands as a 
chef over the sun which is the fire that cooks all 
things and makes them palatable." 

Our guide, paying little attention to homilies, 
pulled the carcass to the edge of the road. ' 'A triflin' 
critter, doan do nothin' but harm, as I kin see," he 
grumbled. 

Here was another feather for the arrow of our 
soldier of the cross. 
"Though by reason of original sin, many wild ani- 
mals injure humanity, as lions, wolves, bears, snakes, 
adders, and so forth," said he, ' 'yet the merciful God 
has so mitigated our richly deserved punishment 
that there are many more beasts that serve our profit 
than there are that do us harm." 

We pushed on now, and soon came to the place of 
descent. A scene of rugged grandeur spread out 
before us as we stood there, halted by wonder, 
silenced by awe. 



80 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

"Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all 
generations," said Luther, breaking the silence. 
"Before the mountains were brought forth or ever 
Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even 
from everlasting to everlasting Thou art God. ' ' 

"Amen," said our guide, and we replaced our hats. 
We walked down, for the path zigzagged along 
the precipice and was so steep in places that it 
seemed as if it were making jumps to get to the bot- 
tom. We reached the foot without mishap. Luther 
looked back and then up through the foliage at 
heaven's blue dome. 

"He who erected such arches without pillars," he 
declared, "is certainly a master-builder." 

We crossed the narrow valley, fertile and culti- 
vated, and in the foothills there found our lodging 
place for the night, an old log house. Here our guide 
bade us farewell. 

"That fellow is a fluent liar," said I. 

" 'Tis a trade easily plied," Luther answered. 

"But he botches it, and tells crooked stories." 

"A lie is always crooked and wriggles like a snake, 
which is never straight till it is dead," he replied 
curtly. 

Our host was a veritable patriarch. The snow of 
eighty winters was on his head, the sunshine of 
eighty summers was in his face, the grace of God 
of a lifetime was in his heart. As for the rest, it 
spelled poverty — pinching poverty. When I re- 
marked that it looked as if God had run short of 



Over the Mountains 81 

creature blessings before he reached this saint, 
Luther smiled and said: 

"Though He is Lord of lords and King of kings, 
God often puts on a beggar's garb, as actors do in 
plays." 

After eating a snack, which, being interpreted, 
was flitch, something like hardtack hot from the 
stove, and black coffee, our host sat down and told 
us of the days agone till the cock crowed. Then 
Luther said: 

1 'I must go to bed and so follow the rules laid down 
for me by those holy fathers, the physicians, who 
complain that I do not obey them." 

The old man lighted a piece of pitch-pine. "Come 
on," said he. We followed him up the ladder in the 
corner to the attic, where he showed us two nice, 
clean beds and withdrew. 

"I like the happy spirit of this father in Israel," I 
remarked, "and I believe you are right: like father 
Jacob, God often gives His dearest child a coat of 
many colors. ' ' 

"Great wealth does not cheer as much as a merry 
heart," he replied. "We see it all pivots on 
whether one is content and does not cling to tem- 
poral things. 

"In fine, it— " 

"In fine, he is a rich lord and emperor who has no 
care, trouble and heartaches. ' ' 

Then the rain pattered a lullaby on the 
shingles. 



82 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

In the morning we rose betimes and set out for 
the colloquium. He of the eighty summers and win- 
ters led, as spry in the saddle as a man of forty. 




®®@©$§£SOS®SsSS£§> 



VI. UNEQUALLY YOKED TOGETHER 

And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew, 

That one small head should carry all he knew. — Goldsmith. 




N the mountains, south of the Ma- 
son and Dixon line, a term of court, 
a political meeting, or a religious 
debate will bring out the whole 
countryside. Hence it was no sur- 
prise to find a large crowd at the 
church. Perhaps some came merely 
to see what sort of a thing this 
colloquium would be. If so, I do not blame them; 
for, verily, a colloquium is not always the same: 
sometimes it goes on all fours, and sometimes it does 
not; sometimes it has a big heart, and sometimes it 
has not; sometimes it has lots of brains, and some- 
times it has not; in short, it is always like the com- 
pany it is in. In fact, if I were asked to define the 
word, I should say, a colloquium, comprised of min- 
isters, is an ecclesiastical chameleon usually of a 
green hue, unless squabbling turns it black and blue. 
Those who try to kill words and bury them in the 
graveyard called a lexicon, might talk more about it, 
but it is doubtful if they would say as much. 

I like these people of the mountains of the South- 
land. Their simplicity is refreshing, and the way 
they turn out to religious meetings is admirable. 
(83) 



84 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

We not only found a large gathering at the church, 
but saw more coming down the road and issuing 
from the bridle-paths. All came on foot or on horse- 
back, sometimes two or three on the back of a faith- 
ful, slow-plodding nag. The men were clad in Ken- 
tucky jeans, and the women wore clean calico dresses, 
gingham aprons, and kerchiefs folded in triangular 
shape over their shoulders. Until the meeting opened 
they stood in little groups, inquiring about the state 
of health in the settlements and passing the snuff-box 
with the gossip. 

All this is primitive, of course, and your Northern 
people laugh at it. A man hates to dissect a laugh: 
it is apparently such a good-natured thing. But in 
reality it is commonly a very selfish thing. Men usu- 
ally laugh because they see others in a ludicrous 
position. The merry ring would cease if they saw 
themselves in the same position. Hence, the ordi- 
nary laugh takes its rise from a secret and, perhaps, 
unconscious comparison of self with another to the 
advantage of self. That tickles the Old Adam and — 
that is where the laugh comes in. That is true of 
most laughs, not of all. But I fail to see the advan- 
tage which allows even the expenditure of a smile, 
humor's fractional currency, at the expense of this 
simple-hearted mountain folk. In my opinion, clean 
calico is more becoming to saints of feminine gender 
than perfumed satin; and, for the life of me, I cannot 
see why a male saint in his Sunday jeans, carrying a 
pail of swill to his hogs, should not be said to be 



Unequally Yoked Together 85 

going on a more advantageous errand for the Lord 
than the one in the city who is carrying his dress 
trousers to the tailor to have them creased just so. 
From the view-point of angels, I think the saint with 
the slop-bucket does not look as foolish as the saint 
with the trousers to be creased. Sartorial smartness 
and saintliness do not constitute a match team, 
although, like a mule and a horse, they may be made 
to pull together. At any rate, my good old father 
Luther liked the appearance of these mountain 
matrons real well, and, comparing them with those 
saints of powder, feathers, fluff and ribbons, said: 

"Gold and precious stones are magnificent in the 
eyes of the world, but a stench in the nostrils of God. 
She is well arrayed and beautifully adorned in God's 
sight who goes about in a quiet and meek spirit." 
He was very severe on the devotees of fashion. 

"When an honorable dame or a young woman 
dresses thus, what else does she do than ape the 
demi-monde?" 

So much for the dress of our mountain folk. As 
for gossip, all the daughters of Eve nurse the imp, 
and all the sons of Adam pet it. The only difference 
is that some people do not keep its slobbering bib as 
clean as others do, and it smells nasty and sour. 
And besides all this, the talk of the mountaineers in 
the churchyard is never much out of keeping with 
the place and often gives room to the discussion of 
a theological problem whose handling evinces the 
tutorship of the Spirit. 



86 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

In this connection I was pleased to note a change 
in Luther's opinions. When we started on this trip, 
he had a strong bias against farmers. But now, 
having come in touch with these poor farmers, who 
were hospitable and happy, he frankly acknowledged 
his mistake and added: 
"This is the most exalted joy of all, that a heart 
has Christ, the Savior. That one rejoices in excep- 
tional good fortune, money, goods, power, honor, 
and so on, is no doubt also to be called joy; but all 
this is still nothing more than childish and foolish 
delight." 

It was long past the hour of meeting and we were 
still waiting for the chairman. The rain of the pre- 
vious night had flooded the streams. He might make 
a long detour, cross the one bridge in all that sec- 
tion, and then risk swimming his horse across sev- 
eral streams, or he might bide his time till the 
torrent had spent its force and cross the ford. What 
he would be likely to do was discussed by the men 
with as much solicitude as a premier's next move in 
statecraft would get in the deliberations of a neigh- 
boring cabinet. 

Directly he made his appearance, wet and mud- 
bespattered. He had chosen to risk his life in the 
mountain torrents, rather than leave unperformed 
the duty assigned him. All honor to these moun- 
tain pastors, who are in perils often and count all 
things dross for the sake of Him who redeemed 
them. 



Unequally Yoked Together 87 

Ephraim Munggold, the self-appointed lackey to 
all preachers sound in the faith, helped him to dis- 
mount and tied the horse to a sapling, chuckling 
the while with satisfaction. Then, after taking a 
package from the saddle-bags, the minister went 
through the crowd, shaking hands, with a smile and 
kindly word for each. He was smooth-shaven, old 
and gray, and withal somewhat bent, like a shelf 
beneath its weight of books. He had a place in my 
heart at once. I think it was because one could see 
he had been on the mount and in the garden with the 
Savior. 

On account of his late arrival, dinner was served 
under the trees at once, so the work of the colloquium 
might proceed uninterrupted the residue of the day. 
Then the old man entered the church and we fol- 
lowed. Luther took a seat in one of the pews to 
the side of the pulpit, where the elders sit on Sun- 
days and — nod, provided they are sure the preacher 
is orthodox and does not need watching. 

After a Scripture lesson, remarkable for brevity, 
and an extemporized prayer, noteworthy for length, 
the table used in lieu of an altar for communion pur- 
poses was moved out and the examining committee 
gathered around it. Besides the aged pastor men- 
tioned there were three others on the committee: a 
spare young man, who wore his hair long like Wag- 
ner or Liszt, and two middle-aged men, one of whom 
was pastor of the parish. Two other ministers — one 

7 



88 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

of whom, by the way, was very bald — were also pres- 
ent; but they were mere spectators of other men's 
affairs and did not at all seem to be in sympathy 
with these United Synod men, for when the exam- 
ination was in progress they often shook their heads 
in disapproval and smiled sarcastically. 

The senior preacher had placed aBookof Con- 
cord on the table, which led me to think he was 
of old Tennessee training, and, as they took their 
seats at the table, the others also deposited some 
volumes upon it with that air of learning and im- 
portance which is so palpable in most of the younger 
men in the South. The young man's contribution 
was a Greek New Testament. It spoke vol- 
umes for him until, alas and alack, I discovered it 
was an interlinear edition. But the assembly was 
evidently awed by the pile of learning on the table 
and expected great things from the scribes instructed 
unto the kingdom of heaven, who, like a householder, 
are to bring forth out of their treasure things new 
and old. 

The old man, in the capacity of chairman, stated 
the object of the meeting, and interlarded his re- 
marks with many nice things about brotherhood, 
unity of the spirit, and bonds of peace. It was a 
trifle overdone and left an unpleasant taste, like 
sweet cakes scorched in the baking. Then he asked 
in that fatherly tone which some employ in cate- 
chizing timid children: 
"Brother Martin, what is the Bible?" 



Unequally Yoked Together 89 

"The Bible is God's Word," Luther replied. 

"And do you accept every word of the canonical 
books of the Old and New Testaments as inspired?" 

"Yes, for they are the words of the Holy Ghost," 
said Luther; and then, perhaps encouraged by the 
old man's voice and manner, went on in that easy, 
open way of his, saying: "Consequently they are too 
deep for any man, and new-born Christians have 
merely the first-fruits and not the tenth. I am sat- 
isfied that I have at least a faint conception of what 
God's Word is, and I guard myself against doubting 
or opposing it." 

"Ah, that is right," chuckled the old sire, "we 
should revere the Book. And so you love it and read 
it diligently, eh?" 

"In fact, for several years now, I have read the 
Bible through twice each twelvemonth," he an- 
swered. "The Bible is like a large orchard with all 
sorts of trees from which we may gather divers 
fruits, for we have in the Bible a wealth of comfort, 
doctrine, instruction, exhortation, warnings, prom- 
ises and threats. There is not a tree in this orchard 
at which I have not hammered and from which I 
have not shaken a couple of apples or pears at least. ' ' 

"Now to the Confessions. Do you believe the truth 
as it is set forth in the Confessions of the Evangel- 
ical Lutheran Church?" 

"I believe," Luther answered in a loud, clear voice, 
as if glad to confess his faith. 

"Thank God!" the venerable questioner exclaimed. 



90 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

"In these last, perilous days, it is not always so: 
some quibble and are wise above what is written. 
But what have you to say of the first Confession, the 
Apostles' Creed?" 

"We neither made nor invented this Creed," Lu- 
ther replied, "neither did the former fathers; but 
as the bee gathers honey from many beautiful and 
fragrant flowers, so this symbol was gathered from 
the beloved prophets and apostles, that is, from the 
entire Sacred Scriptures, and set forth with exquisite 
terseness for children and common Christians. Thus 
it is legitimately called apostolic, for it is so phrased 
that one could not state it better and more neatly 
in a form so concise and perspicuous. And from of 
old it has ever been held in the Church that either 
the apostles themselves composed it, or that it was 
compiled from their writings and sermons by their 
most proficient disciples." 

"And now. what say you of the second, the Nicene 
Creed, which magnifies the Lord who lived for us 
and died for us?" 

"For us!" exclaimed Luther in a tone of delight, 
almost snatching the words from the old minister's 
lips, "For us! Conceived by the Holy Ghost for 
u s, born of the Virgin Mary for us, and so to the 
end. We should pay special attention to these little 
words 'for us.' The dear fathers did not forget that, 
but with much earnestness and care placed the little 
words us and our in the Nicene Symbol or Con- 
fession of Faith: 'Who for us men, and for our sal- 



Unequally Yoked Together 91 

vation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate 
by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made 
man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius 
Pilate.' In ancient times the Nicene Creed was 
chanted every Sunday in the churches and as the 
words 'was made man' were sung every man fell 
upon his knees. This was a fine, praiseworthy cus- 
tom, and it should still be so observed that we thank 
God with the whole heart for the incarnation of 
Christ.' * 

"Now what have you to say of the other oecumen- 
ical symbol?" 

"The other, that of St. Athanasius," replied 
Luther, "is longer, and, on account of the Arians, 
more fully develops one article, namely, how Jesus 
Christ is God's only Son and our Lord in whom we 
believe with the selfsame faith with which we believe 
in the Father, as the text of the first symbol says: 
'I believe in God' 'and in Jesus Christ.' For if He 
were not true God He should not be honored with 
the same faith as coequal with the Father. This 
St. Athanasius contends for and urges in his 
confession, and it is almost a credal defence of the 
first symbol. It is put in such form that I do not 
know whether anything more important or more glo- 
rious has been written in the Church of the New 
Testament since the times of the apostles." 

The old minister now took the Small Catechism 
from the table, and, holding it aloft, asked: "Do you 
accept this Catechism also as God's truth?" 



92 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

"No better word and no better doctrine will ever be 
brought forth than that which is summed up in the 
Catechism out of the Sacred Scriptures," he an- 
swered. "The Catechism is a real Lay Bible which 
comprises the whole sum of Christian doctrine which 
every man needs to know for his salvation. Just as 
the Canticles of Solomon are called the Canticum 
Canticorum, the song above all songs, so the 
Ten Commandments are the Doctrina Doctri- 
narum, the doctrine above all doctrines. From 
it is learned the will of God — what He demands and 
what we lack. In the second place, the Creed, or 
the confession of faith is the Historia Histori- 
arum, the history above all histories, in which are 
set forth the wonderful works of the Divine Majesty 
from creation to eternity. In the third place, the 
Lord's Prayer, the Oratio Dominica, is the 
prayer above all prayers, the loftiest form of devo- 
tion. It was taught by our exalted Master, embraces 
all spiritual and bodily needs and is a most efficient 
comfort in temptation, tribulation and the last hour. 
In the fourth place, the holy Sacraments are the 
Ceremoniae Ceremoniarum, the most exalted 
ceremonies, instituted by God himself and sealing 
His grace to us. Therefore we should love and ap- 
preciate the Catechism and diligently teach it to the 
young. In it is summed up the right, old, true, pure, 
divine doctrine of the holy Christian Church. What- 
ever is against it is to be regarded as innovation, 
false doctrine, drivel, be it of as long standing or as 



Unequally Yoked Together 93 

plausible as it may. Be it old, or be it new, we 
should guard ourselves against it." 

"You are right," said the examiner, "this little 
book is a marvel." 

"So much could not be collected from the books of 
the fathers," said Luther, "as is now, by the grace 
of God, taught out of the Small Catechism." 

"And the Augsburg Confession?" queried the 
chairman as, highly satisfied, he took a pinch of snuff. 

"A glorious Confession!" Luther responded with 
animation. "I like it well. I have no changes or 
improvements to make. Neither would it become 
me to touch it." 

"Good, very good," said the old man. "You have 
no affinity with the spiritual spawn of the Definite 
Platform* makers. Ah, those were perilous days. 
Then was the Church in Gethsemane, and certain 
men, under the cover of darkness, would betray her 
with a kiss into the hands of the sects. Now as to 
the Formula of Concord — ' ' 

"Just a word, please — a private word," interrupted 
the young man, raising his finger as one having 
authority. 

The committee held a consultation, and the up- 
shot of it was that no question was asked concerning 
this confession. The BookofConcord has been 



*An anonymous pamphlet of 1855, having for its aim 
the displacement of the Augsburg Confession in the Gen- 
eral Synod. 



94 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

gradually worked into the United Synod of the 
South, but it still gets dabs and stabs. Hence the 
United Synod is like a clock whose hands and gong 
are out of harmony: it points at twelve and strikes 
one. Other synods are more or less like this, except 
the Missouri Synod: it points at twelve and strikes — 
thirteen! 

The old pastor evidently did not want to expose 
that which was dear to him to the unkind thrusts 
of the opposition, or, by pushing it forward, divide 
the committee, and therefore dropped his question; 
but when he did so the strange ministers smiled at 
his discomfiture. Turning to Luther, he continued 
with the inevitable awkwardness of a guileless man 
who tries to mend matters for himself: 

"Formally, you and I are in concord. But you 
spoke of believing. What do you hold faith to be?" 

"Faith is not man's opinion or fancy, which some 
conceive to be faith," Luther replied; "but faith is 
a divine work in us which changes and begets us 
anew of God. It mortifies the old Adam, transforms 
us into entirely different men in heart, mind, will, 
sense and powers, and brings with it the Holy 
Spirit." 

"But St. James says, 'Show me thy faith with- 
out thy works, and I will show thee my faith by 
my works.' What of good works?" asked the pas- 
tor of the parish. 

"Oh, this faith is a living, busy, active, efficacious 
thing, so that it is impossible for it not incessantly 



Unequally Yoked Together 95 

to do good works," Luther replied in a burst of 
eloquence. "It does not ask whether good works are 
to be done, but before the question has been asked, 
it has already done them, and is always doing them. 
But he who does not these good works is a faithless 
man who is always groping and looking for faith 
and works, and nevertheless knows neither what 
faith is nor what good works are, though he prate 
volubly about faith and good works." 

"We will come to the subject of good works after 
a while," said the chairman. "Drop this now. Let 
us go on in an orderly way." Then, as he pulled out 
his oaken snuff-box, he quoted the passage which 
is almost reduced to a condition of servitude by fre- 
quent use, to-wit: "Let everything be done decently 
and in order." The snuff-box, which he had passed 
around the table, returned to him untouched, for 
some people tickle themselves with snuff, and some 
tickle themselves with self -adulation — merely a dif- 
ference in the kind of snuff. 

After several hearty sneezes, the old minister 
began again to question with the courtesy and delib- 
erateness of the old-school gentleman of the South- 
land. He asked, "Who is God the Father?" and 
followed it up with questions on God's attributes 
and works, leading over to the Work of Redemption 
by bringing out man's fall; and then in a similar 
manner he covered the Work of Redemption and led 
over to the Dispensation of the Spirit. The vener- 
able father was no great dogmatician, but he was 



96 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

far too wise to risk making a fool of himself by 
attempting to lead the applicant over ground unfa- 
miliar to himself; so he simply took the three articles 
of the Apostles' Creed and followed his well-blazed 
and oft-trodden path. It was a thorough piece of 
work and must have been highly edifying to the 
congregation. Luther's replies constituted a bril- 
liant exposition of the creed. But for all that the 
bald visitor showed very plainly that he considered 
the examiner's course to be entirely too simple for 
a colloquium. Perhaps he was right. If so, he was 
more correct in judgment than courteous in de- 
meanor. Yet it is not wise to sneer at that which is 
simple and doff the hat to that which is intricate, 
for depth is often an illusion and a snare. We can 
see to the bottom of a deep stream if the water is 
clear, but we cannot penetrate beyond the surface 
of a shallow stream if the water is muddy. Noticing 
this, some theologians get a reputation for depth by 
stirring up a little sand, or, if it be in polemics,* a 
lot of dirt. 



*I have a curious manuscript by the author of this 
work. It is entitled The Convocation at Bug 
House, and, though not finished, contains not a little 
to the point here. In part, this story runs as follows: 

Some excerpts from the diary of an itinerant Ohio 
pioneer minister had been published in a church papet 
and were inadvertently come upon by a bold cimex 
lectularius, a thing which, in Philadelphia, Gettys- 
burg, St. Louis, and, in fact, everywhere outside of Ohio. 






Unequally Yoked Together 97 

The examination ran along smoothly till the old 
man got into the third article. 
"What is the Church?" he asked, taking another 
pinch of snuff and pulling a red bandana from a rear 
pocket. 
"The communion of saints," Luther replied. 
A sneeze was now due from the old minister, and 

is vulgarly called a bedbug. Now this cimex lectu- 
larius took mortal offence at what was printed, for 
whithersoever the itinerant had gone he had found a 
ranting kind of religionists and also the aforesaid kind of 
bugs, and in recording the fact he always coupled a de- 
nunciation with it. Whether the denunciation was meant 
for the sect or the insect is not clear, but his bugship took 
it as leveled wholly against his kind. Hence, to prevent 
himself from bursting with indignation, he called an 
"oecumenical council" of insects, carefully stipulating, 
however, that the meeting should not be opened with 
prayer, that no division or subdivision should be held 
responsible for anything done at the meeting, and that 
the moot question, Which kind of bugs are the 
buggiest bugs in all bugdom? should not be so 
much as mentioned. 

And so, in due course of time, the convocation met at 
Bug House. But despite the liberal terms of the call, a 
rumpus was raised on the seating of a butterfly from Get- 
tysburg. The protesters alleged it to be a turncoat, and 
pretended they did not know how to classify a thing that 
is a worm at one time and a fly at another. But when the 
insects realized how many of them this principle would 
affect, they settled the question post-haste in favor of the 
butterfly and got down to business. 

Many subjects were discussed, but all that was said 



98 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

he enjoyed it. The young man, he of the long hair 
and interlinear Greek Testament, took a mean advan- 
tage of that sneeze and put his foot into the 
examination. 
"Do you mean to say the Church has its essence in 
the Lord's Supper?" he asked with evident self- 
importance. 

bore upon the general thesis that man had no reason to 
be proud and look to the extinction of all insects, for they, 
in their special spheres, were one and all superior to him 
and he was most assuredly beholden to them. The 
speakers proved to the satisfaction of all bugdom that 
the bee taught man political economy, the ant industry, 
the silkworm weaving, the hornet paper-making, the 
mosquito drilling, the firefly electric lighting, the cater- 
pillar coffin-making, the cabbage-worm the manufacture 
of sauerkraut, the grasshopper how to spit tobacco-juice, 
and so on to the end of the chapter there was nothing at 
all which the wise bug had not taught fool man. 

However, since the conduct of a preacher had given 
the occasion for the meeting, the cloth came in for most 
of the animadversions. Finally, when their bugships 
came to declare which bug had taught man defamatory 
polemics, they came near falling out among themselves 
and so giving a practical demonstration of the art and 
their respective ability to teach it. 

The hornet had been first to speak and claimed all the 
credit, averring truthfully enough that his tribe had 
taught man both how to make paper and how to fill it 
with stingers. However, the cimex lectularius 
insisted that he was the first to teach writers how to draw 
blood, a statement which the mosquito contradicted, say- 
ing, "Your nocturnal worship may have taught the pugU- 



Unequally Yoked Together 99 



Luther looked at him with blank amazement. 

"God be praised," he said brusquely, "a child of 
seven years knows what the Church is, namely, the 
saints, holy believers and lambs, who heed the voice 
of their Shepherd. For thus the children confess, 
'I believe in the holy Christian Church.' " 

"Then this member of the Creed, 'communion of 
saints,' expresses no new thought?" he queried. 

"No, ' ' answered Luther. "And for that reason this 
member, 'the communion of saints,' was not repeated 
in ancient times, as may be seen from the exposition 
of the Creed by Rufinus. But a marginal gloss was 
affixed which explained holy Christian Church by 
'communion of saints.' In the course of time it was 
incorporated into the text, and we now repeat both." 
The young man looked nonplussed. To him com- 
munion here signified Lord's Supper, and was his 
warrant for altar-fellowship. He reasoned thus: the 

ist but not the polemicist, for here the scientific thing is 
to get in your work and then get gracefully out of the 
way, and that he learned from me." "No, no," vociferated 
the flea, "that is the point I taught him!" "But it was 
I," said the jigger, "it was I that taught him how to make 
an opponent scratch and scratch and scratch without sur- 
cease." "Bosh!" exclaimed the house-fly, "you are all 
taking too much credit to yourselves. 'Tis we who taught 
the defamatory polemicist how to get the material, going 
as we do with equal facility from honey-pot to dunghill." 
"But polemics must needs be ignescent," said the firefly, 
"and we taught the scrappers how to strike fire." "So be 
it," gasped the moth, "so be it ; yet you must all concede 



100 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

Creed says, communion of saints; all who believe are 
saints; therefore, commune all who come. Finally 
he said: 

"Do you, or don't you, believe in the intercommun- 
ion of saints? What do you say of allowing others 
to commune at our altars?" 

"Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the 
way of the Sacramentarians, " he replied, "nor sat 

that it was my progenitors who showed him how to riddle 
the fabric of opposing argument with holes, which, after 
all, is the main thing." "Nay, that is not the main thing," 
countered a bumblebee from Philadelphia; "the main 
thing is to do the nasty thing in a nice way — wear a soft 
velvet dress and hide the stinger underneath — and that 
we bumblebees taught the polemicist." 

There was a deal more of like talk from other insects 
till a ladybug from Iowa mounted a rose petal and said: 
"It is not seemly that we spend our time in wrangling 
when more weighty matters await our attention. I there- 
fore offer a compromise declaration whereby the matter 
shall not be settled to the detriment of any, but each shall 
have the honor due him, to-wit: it shall be declared by 
us that the polemicist is the composite product of all bug- 
dom, how much each kind of bug has contributed being 
left an open question for the present." And now 
what? Aye, on all sides there was chirping, and whiz- 
zing, and buzzing, and clatter of protest. Should all bugs 
share the honor achieved by one division of bugs? 
Nevermore ! 

Now at this very moment came there upon the scene 
a belated tumblebug that had pushed his sphere all the 
way from Missouri. When he asked what all this ado 
was about, the ladybug made bold to reply, saying : "Each 



Unequally Yoked Together 101 

in the seat of the Zwinglians, nor followed the coun- 
sels of the Zurichers." 

The young minister's face flushed. 
"If, as even you strict Lutherans say, the Sacra- 
ment does not depend upon the belief or the unbelief 
of the administrator, I can't see that it makes any 



and every bug here present avers that its kind taught the 
defamatory polemicist how to handle himself in the lists." 
Then the tumblebug straightened up and bellowed with 
exceeding great stomach: "Shut up, you little bugs and 
big bugs, you rich bugs and poor bugs, and hearken unto 
me ! Hold your peace, I say ; I 'm from Missouri ! It 
was not your tribes, but it was mine that instructed these 
dunderheads in this genteel art, for is it not plain that 
we taught them: I. Where and how to gather the mate- 
rial; II. How to round it out nicely, aye, even attrac- 
tively; III. How to make it at one and the same time 
offensive and defensive : (a) so it can be easily rolled to 
its destination, and (b) not be touched by gainsayers 
without odoriferous consequences ; and IV. How to place 
in each contribution the ovum and the potential heat to 
hatch another one, which is a very important thing in the 
practice of this art. And now, if you do not accept what 
I say," he fairly roared, "I 'm from Missouri, and I '11 
show you!" Thereupon his worship got behind his big 
ball and rolled it straight towards the assembly, which, 
taking fright at the weight of this mode of argument, fled 
for dear life. 

And so the origin of ecclesiastical defamation, stench 
and all, was settled without a dissenting voice in the con- 
vocation at Bug House ; and, lo, even to this day, no big 
bug nor little bug has been able to prove any other origin 
for it. — E d i t o r. 



102 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

difference at what altar we commune, for we shall 
always receive the same thing. ' ' 

"Unless," interjected Luther impatiently, "unless 
it were in consequence of their having first changed 
the word and institution of God and explained them 
otherwise than they ought, as the present enemies 
of the Sacrament do. These doubtless have nothing 
but bread and wine in the Supper, because they have 
neither the word nor the instituted order of God, but 
have perverted and changed it according to their own 
conceits. ' ' 

"Narrow, shameful, bigoted," the young minister 
whispered to his companions. 

"No, he is perfectly right, perfectly right," rejoined 
the venerable father, who had just tucked his ban- 
dana in the antipodes of his coat, drawn his finger 
across his nose and was free now to attend to 
business. 

In a few moments he and the other members of 
the committee were in private consultation. It 
grew into a wrangle loud enough at times to be 
understood. It was three against one. And the 
three having the least argument did the loudest 
talking. 

While this was in progress, Luther, with hands 
behind his back, paced the floor. 

One of the strange ministers threaded his way 
through the crowd and came up to Luther. Though 
he spoke in a whisper, I heard him say: "I must 
start home. This is a loose synod — very weak in 






Unequally Yoked Together 103 

the knees. The Synodical Conference is the alone- 
right-believing synod. Go to St. Louis. I will write 
her most honorable president about you." 

While this private interview was taking place, the 
other ministerial intruder strained forward in his 
pew, keeping tight eye-grip on the twain. So soon 
as the bald man had withdrawn, he edged tiptoe to 
Luther and talked in a whispered pur. 
"God's grace has not been bestowed on you in 
vain," I overheard. Then, after a bit, I caught: 
"God has opened a great and effectual door to us 
here in the South." Then piecemeal: "Tennessee 
* * * Ohio Synod * * * whole truth * * * this 
land * * * she only." And finally: "You will see 
this clearly if you read The Error of Modern 
Missouri." 

So that is why these men were here: that is why 
they had come south of the Potomac! I liked it not. 
That is how the eagle watches the osprey, how the 
raven watches the sick sheep. 

At the table the discussion waxed warmer. Most 
of what the young man was saying could be made 
out. Coming again to where I sat, Luther stooped 
over and said: 
"The donkey has ventured on thin ice!" 

That expressed it, for this unlicked cub theologue 
was prating sentiment sans sense. 

Gray with emotion was the face of the venerable 
pastor. The other three were against him. His was 

8 



104 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

a hopeless case: he could give them the arguments, 
but he could not give them the brains to understand 
the arguments. Finally he rose and exclaimed: 
"I can no longer co-operate with you!" 

Then he turned to the congregation. His eyes 
were aflame. 

"I declare here before God and the Church," said 
he, holding up his right hand, "that I am opposed 
to pulpit-fellowship and altar-fellowship with those 
of different faith, and to secret societies of doubtful 
or deistic character. Brethren, I cannot co-operate 
with these men and shall withdraw. 'Try the spirits, 
whether they be of God.' " Turning to Luther he 
said: "Make thou a good confession." 

Then he stalked out with a feeling of kinship to 
the confessors of old. 

The people were taken aback. Not even Ephraim 
Munggold, who always acted as hostler, made a move. 
Ephraim' s jaw hung low, as if he were trying to take 
in the situation through his mouth. 

Luther's comment to me was terse. 
"Two divines who are antagonistic cannot walk 
together. ' ' Then glancing at the remaining pastors, 
of whom he did not seem to think highly, he said: 
"The laity desire pure and firm teachers whom they 
can trust." 

This incident illustrates pretty well the conditions 
which obtain in the United Synod of the South. The 
conservatives come to synod smiling and depart pro- 
testing, and the ensuing chapters begin and end in 



Unequally Yoked Together 105 

the same way. Meanwhile, the eagle watches the 
osprey and the raven watches the sheep. 

The venerable father out of the way, the young 
man ran his fingers through his hair, assumed an 
air of importance and delivered himself of this: 

"Animated by the spirit of love, the sundered 
bodies of Protestants are working for union, and you 
old-school Lutherans are standing in the way of it 
and the answer to the Master's prayer that His fol- 
lowers be one even as He and the Father are one, and 
I don't know what else you can say." 
"My dear sirs, what shall we say?" Luther rejoined. 
"Our lot is that of the sheep which went to the water 
with a wolf. The wolf entered the stream above, 
the sheep below. The wolf began to accuse the sheep 
of making the water muddy for him. The sheep 
answered: 'How can I make the water muddy for 
you, inasmuch as you are upstream and are making 
it roily for me?' But, to be brief, the sheep had to 
bear the blame. So these sectaries, who have kindled 
the fire as they themselves lustily boast and call it 
a blessing, are now trying to put the blame for divi- 
sion on us. Who told Dr. Carlstadt to begin? Who 
told Zwingli and (Ecolampadius to scribble? Have 
they not done so of their own volition? We would 
have gladly preserved concord and would still do 
so; but they would not. Now, forsooth, we are to 
blame!" 

If the young man saw the force of this, he ignored 
it entirely and let loose in a rhapsody on brotherly 



106 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

love. Luther squelched him by raising his hand 
and saying: 

"There is no rhetoric of sufficient force to hood- 
wink an honest conscience. Accursed be the love 
and peace purchased at the cost of God's Word" 

"But you must admit," cut in the other member of 
the committee, "that your exclusiveness stands in 
the way of mending matters, just as they claim, and 
that there is some ground for what they print." 
Luther's face colored with indignation. 

"They ought to be ashamed in the presence of the 
people and not write such audacious lies," he ex- 
claimed, rising to his feet. And now every sentence 
was a hammer-blow. "They say peace should be 
preserved and are constantly disturbing it, as every- 
body knows. They also take delight in seeing this 
evil spread. Again, they say the difference is a 
little matter, and yet there is nothing which they 
are so much concerned about as this very thing: no 
time is left for anything else. In this they pose as 
martyrs and saints, and whoever will not follow 
them in their vagaries is no Christian and knows 
nothing of Scripture or Spirit. ' ' 

Truer words were never uttered of the audacity 
and rapacity of sectarianism. 

By this time our young man eloquent had recov- 
ered sufficiently to essay a defense of the men who 
give our weak brethren the right hand of fellowship 
while they try to steal our sheep with the left. 

"Upon acquaintance," quoth he meekly, "these 



Unequally Yoked Together 107 

men always prove to be humble. They evince a fine 
spirit in private intercourse." 

"It is worse and more dangerous to fellowship 
schismatics and sectaries who assume humility and 
ingratiate themselves with the people," Luther ex* 
plained. "That is what is meant by affiliating with 
the Canaanites, that is, with those who distort and 
yield God's Word." 

"Well, sir," said the pastor of the parish in a mean 
tone, "all I 've got to say is that such conduct as 
you prescribe would render us deservedly unpopular 
in any community." 

"It is a dangerous and an offensive thing," Luther 
replied with warmth, "and veritable idolatry to 
strive in this manner for friendship, worldly favor, 
wealth and power. Man is so blinded thereby that 
he departs from the Word of God. Thus many in 
our time have fallen away from the Word." 

This was a deserved rebuke. To barter truth for 
popularity is the act of a Judas. But these men 
were actually not sure of the doctrine they taught 
in the name of God. That was the amazing thing: 
that was the shameful thing. Turning uneasily on 
his chair, one of them said: 

"What you assert is all very good, provided— pro- 
vided we are right and all the other denominations 
are wrong; but they are just as likely to be right as 
we are." 

Luther stepped closer to the table. His falcon 
eyes were flashing fire. 



108 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

"Above all things," he exclaimed, "we must be 
sure that the doctrine we preach is God's Word. 
God be praised, I know positively that the doctrine 
which I preach is the Word of God. I have now 
banished from my heart all other doctrines of what- 
soever name and have overcome those heavy cogita- 
tions and temptations which sometimes tormented 
me like this: Art thou the only man who has God's 
Word pure and clear, and all the rest have it not? 
In this way doth Satan, under the guise of God's 
Church, vex and torment us. Verily in this case we 
must not only be well armed with God's Word and 
well grounded therein, but we must also have the 
certainty of the doctrine, otherwise we shall not be 
able to stand in the combat. A man must be able 
to say courageously: I know with absolute certainty 
that what I teach is solely the Word of the High 
Majesty of God in Heaven, His final pronouncement, 
the eternal, unchangeable truth, and whatsoever does 
not agree with this doctrine is a fabrication spun by 
the devil, false and bad. For God cannot lie: I have 
His Word: that will not fail me." 

Then he picked up a Bible. The committeemen 
looked up as if they were shrinking from him. 
Thus uncertainty cringes before conviction. Open- 
ing the book, and pointing to the passage, Luther 
said: 

"Now St. Peter says here, 'If any man speak, let 
him speak as the oracles of God.' This point is to be 
kept well in mind: No man is to preach any- 



Unequally Yoked Together 109 

thing unless he be certain that it is 
God's Word." 

Well said, thought I. You are an upright man 
and would never risk lying and deceiving in the 
name of Almighty God, as do those preachers who 
confess that they do not know which denomination 
is right. As he laid down the Bible, he concluded: 

"I ask no vision and desire no miracle; neither 
would I give credence to any angel that would teach 
me otherwise than God's Word teaches." 

Then he began again to pace the floor, for the 
spirit was stirred up within him. 

There was a short lull in which the committeemen 
gave each other woebegone looks. And when the 
silence seemed overlong and oppressive, the young 
man of the long hair rose and said in a respectful 
tone: 

"If we were to concede that you are certain that 
your doctrine is God's, could you not let others teach 
as they please and not testify against them, but co- 
operate in common work and dwell in love and 
peace?" 

"My dear sirs, no such love and peace for me," he 
answered, facing about sharply. "Were I to murder 
a man's wife and child and seek his life besides, and 
then say to him: 'My dear friend, let us have peace. 
We will love each other. It is not of such grave im- 
portance anyhow that we should fall out over it.' 
What would that man say? How very dear I should 
be to him! Such is the conduct of the sects." 



110 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

The committee held a private consultation. 

"Well, there 's no use of continuing this," said one 
of them half aloud, "for he is a stubborn, hidebound 
prophet. This obstinate old man will never do for 
our United Synod." 

Luther overheard the latter part of it and quickly 
rejoined: 

"That I refuse to enter into this union, you must 
not ascribe to my obstinacy; but if you will deal at 
all justly you must attribute it to my righteous con- 
science and the necessity of my faith. The Lord 
Jesus enlighten us and make us perfectly one." 

"What! It is we who refuse to accept you, and 
I'd have you understand that fully," the smart 
young man declared with rising choler. "With your 
unpopular notions and practices you couldn't stand 
in any parish I know of. ' ' 

Luther retorted with all the emphasis of his 
soul: 

"I would rather fall with Christ than stand with 
Caesar!" 

"Let 's adjourn," said one. 
The words were scarcely uttered when another 
raised his hands and pronounced the benediction. 

It was abrupt, but it was all over, and Martin 
Luther had been rejected by another Lutheran synod. 
It was too bad. I felt for him and said, as we 
mounted our horses: 

1 'Well, this thing is deplorable. I suppose you will 
try the General Council next. It is hard to tell what 



Unequally Yoked Together 



111 



will come to pass there. They are good fellows, 
buW 

"I do not know what will yet come to pass," he 
interrupted with a smile that was tinctured with sor- 
row, "but if I did, I should get no gray hair on that 
account. ' ' 

Our companion came and we rode away in the 
lengthening shadows of the declining day. 




@@®@®®ag?®!S£g^§i 



VII. THE KING'S BUSINESS REQUIRES HASTE 



No wild enthusiast ever yet could rest 

Till half mankind were like himself possessed. 



-Cowper. 




T was early the next morning. At 
the garden gate our horses were 
pawing and whinnying, impatient 
to he off. 

"If you are set on going," said 

the miller, with whom we were 

lodging, "the nags are saddled; 

but I still wish you 'd settle on 

biding a day with me." 

Luther said he had a manuscript to finish and was 
anxious to get back to the Shenandoah Valley. 

"I reckon you 'd better start immejiately, if not 
sooner," drawled our old mountaineer, "for the way 
I 'm goin' to show you, to save climbing the moun- 
tain, is right smart farther, and you '11 not git back 
to the valley much afore nightfall nohow." 

Saying we should set out in a few minutes, Luther 
went to thank the housewife and bid her invalid son 
farewell. We all felt that the death angel was hov- 
ering near. 

The mother pushed the door ajar, and Luther en- 
tered, hailing the young man with a cheerful good- 
morning and a heartfelt ' ' Grace and peace in Christ 
Jesus." 

(112) 



The King's Business Requires Haste 113 

The boy, just verging on manhood, was lying in 
the last stage of consumption. A ray of light strug. 
gled through the morning-glories at the window, 
slanted across the white hand on the counterpane and 
fell on the Bible beside it, lighting its pages with 
a golden glow. 

Luther picked up the sacred volume — it was open 
at the fourteenth chapter of St. John — read the sec- 
ond and third verses, said a few words by way of 
explanation and application, and then raised his eyes 
and offered a terse, fervent prayer. That was his 
way, for he was wont to say, "Few words and much 
meaning is Christian: many words and little mean- 
ing is heathenish." 

Heaven seemed very near to us. Methinks when 
a Christian falls asleep angels gather around to sing 
a lullaby. 

He then asked the youth what sort of a present 
he would take with him for the dear Father in 
heaven. The young man replied: 

"Everything that is good, dear father— everything 
that is good." 

"But how can you bring Him everything that is 
good, seeing you are nothing but a poor sinner?" he 
asked in a tone of surprise. 

"Dear father, I will take to my God in heaven a 
penitent, humble heart sprinkled with the blood of 
Christ." 

1 * Truly, ' ' exclaimed Luther, ' ' this is everythinggood. 
Then go, dear son; you willbe a welcome guestto God. ' ' 



114 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

And he laid his hand upon his head and blessed 
him. 

When we were out of the room, Luther turned 
to the mother. "Be of good courage," he said. 
"Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. We 
Christians ought not to grieve: we know it must be 
thus. We have the absolute assurance of eternal 
life, for God, who has promised it to us through His 
Son, cannot lie. I sent a saint to heaven; yes, I sent 
two thither. If I could bring my daughter back, 
and she could fetch me a kingdom, I would not 
doit." 

Thus he tried to ease a wounded heart with the 
balm that had healed his own. For this fruitage of 
pain Paul blessed God, "who comforteth us in all 
tribulation, that" — and let me lay stress on it — 
"that we may be able to comfort them which are 
in any trouble. ' ' 

Now a whinny penetrated the hall and told us 
plainly that it was high time we were in our saddles. 

We thanked the miller and set out in a lope, as 
the horses would have it. The road followed the 
stream, and projecting hills soon hid the white cot- 
tage that had so generously entertained the three 
of us and would probably ere set of sun receive an- 
other guest, grim, silent, unbidden. 

Our steeds soon rued their impatience and settled 
down to a slower pace. 
"Ah, what numerous kinds of death we human be- 
ings are subject to," Luther remarked, still thinking 



The King's Business Requires Haste 115 

of the scene in the cottage. "We feel and see almost 
nothing but disease: as many as there are members 
of the body, so many are the diseases. ' ' Then, after 
a moment's reflection, he added: "Death, which is 
the penalty for sin, becomes for Christian men, 
through the tender mercy of God, an end of sin and 
a beginning of life and righteousness. This is the 
might of faith: it mediates between death and life, 
transmuting death into life and immortality.' ' 

The ancient interposed some question pertaining 
to sects; but Luther did not hear him and concluded 
by saying: 

"This life is life in embryo before our true birth 
to immortality." 

The old man repeated his question. Luther did 
not hear him. A field of daisies had caught his eye. 

"Also the flowers of the field must needs be our 
doctors of divinity and our preceptors," said he. 
"For behold how they come forth so tastefully 
gowned in fascinating colors, and yet none of them 
worries or so much as gives a thought to how it shall 
grow or what color it shall have, but just lets God 
care for all that. And without any of its care or 
assistance God gives it such beautiful raiment that 
Christ declares King Solomon in all his splendor was 
not so beautiful as one of these. Now since He 
clothes so many flowers in divers colors so that each 
variety has its own distinctive garb and outshines 
all the world's splendor, why can we not trust Him 
and believe that He will provide our raiment, too?" 



116 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

Our mountaineer put his question again. Inter- 
rogations are the hooks with which men fish for 
information. When they do not make a catch the 
first time, they cast the line again. But Luther was 
still rapt in his subject. 

"We say cledo instead of credo just as a little 
child says dole for roll," he remarked. "Ah, our 
Lord knows full well that we are poor little children. ' ' 

"What I was askin' about," said the old man, "is 
a new sect as has come in from the Yankees and says 
there is no disease, and that it 's all imagination." 
He scratched his head as if perplexed, and added: 
"But all these different meetin '-house quacks act so 
holy-like. That 's what gits me. ' ' 

"But doesn't our Savior call these false teachers 
wolves in sheep's clothing?" asked I. 

"Yes, that be so," he drawled, "and I should have 
taken the hint: wolves always turn their snouts 
towards heaven when they howl. ' ' 

"Dear Lord, ' ' prayed Luther, "help that we remain 
pious sinners and do not become sanctimonious blas- 
phemers!" Then, turning to the old man, he said: 
"No error so crass but it finds adherents." 

"But these be pesky critters. They say it be sin 
to take or give medicine — even catnip tea." 

"We certainly may use bodily remedies as good 
creatures of God," Luther replied, "for commonly 
He operates only through means. Once upon a time 
our burgomaster asked me if it were against God 
to use medicine, for Carlstadt had taught publicly 



The King's Business Requires Haste 117 

that he who is sick should take no medicine, but com- 
mend his case to God and pray that His will be done. 
Whereupon I put this counter question to him: Do 
you eat when you are hungry? He answered, yes. 
Then I said, So you may also use medicine, which 
is just as much a creature of God as meat and drink 
or aught else we use for the support of this life." 

"If them 'ere Christian Scientists would jist quit 
eatin' it sure would put an end to their tomfoolery," 
our old sire chuckled. "They 'd be like the Dunk- 
ards that put their kind under water to make bap- 
tism like the burying of Christ: if they 'd keep 'em 
under three days, there would n't be any of them left 
to pester Lutherans. But that Papist, who lives in 
the hollow where you turn off to Lentz's, says all 
these sects come out of Luther's work, and especially 
out of translatin' the Bible. Howsumever — " 

"The Papists with their grand argument," Luther 
cut in with warmth, ' 'are like a man who should say, 
Had God not created good angels, there would be no 
demons, for it was from among the good angels that 
they came. In the same way Adam blamed God for 
giving him the woman. Had God not created Adam 
and Eve, they would not have sinned. It would fol- 
low from this fine reasoning that God alone was the 
sinner and that Adam and his children were all pure, 
pious and holy. From Luther's doctrine have arisen 
many troublesome and rebellious spirits; therefore, 
say they, Luther's doctrine is of the devil. But St. 
John also says, 'They went out from us, but they 



118 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

were not of us.' Judas was one of Christ's disciples: 
then, according to this logic, Jesus Christ is a deviL ' ' 
The energy of this reply seemed to please the 
mountaineer: he was listening intently. 

"It was the same with the Bible under the Pope," 
Luther continued, his horse taking advantage of the 
rider's preoccupation and coming to a stop. "It was 
publicly denounced as an heretical book and charged 
with giving rise to the most damnable heresies. And 
now the cry is, "The Church, the Church, above and 
against the Bible!' Emser, the wise Emser, hardly 
knew what to say about the translating of the Bible. 
Perhaps he had not yet decided whether it was right 
that it should ever have been written. ' ' He prodded 
his horse. "Who goes there?" he asked. 

Looking ahead, we saw three men on horseback. 
Two of them were clad in coats of odd style and wore 
wide-brimmed, black hats. 

"Them be Dunkards," our companion answered. 

"They are odd fellows, ' ' Luther remarked, no doubt 
alluding to their garbs. 

"Yes," the mountaineer replied, stroking his beard, 
"they be a peculiar people, zealous of kissin' one 
another an' of a partic'lar style of clothes. The 
men-folks won't wear buttons on their coats, which, 
say they, be sin; and the wimen won't wear hats, 
but slop-bonnets — which is their religion." 

"Are we to get into heaven with our clothes," 
Luther exclaimed, "though we must stay out witb 
this flesh, skin and hair as it now is!" 



The King's Business Requires Haste 119 

In a short time we overtook them and found they 
were all three preachers — one a Campbellite, a thin, 
clean-shaven, leathern-faced man of about forty-five, 
and the other two, Dunkards. Upon invitation, we 
trotted along with them, forming a cavalcade of 
unusual size for that lonesome section. They were 
discussing temptation and Luther soon had a hand 
in the controversy. Is temptation sin? That was 
the subject which was bothering them. 

"The devil tormented the Savior himself," said 
Luther; "but provided he bear not off the soul all 
is well. You cannot prevent the birds from flying 
over your head, but you can prevent them from build- 
ing nests in your hair." 

The larger of the Dunkard brethren stroked his 
beard, the corners of which, in obedience to Mosaic 
precept, had not been marred with ungodly shears; 
and he stroked it with that soft pur of unctious piet- 
ism, meanwhile closing his eyes. He always closed 
his eyes when he tried to think. Presently he opened 
them, and, turning towards Luther, said in a soft 
drawl: 

"Albeit the onslaughts of Satan be no sin in us, the 
thing is how to get shut of the pesky adversary." 

"The best way to expel the devil, if he will not 
depart for texts of Holy Scripture, is to jeer and flout 
him," Luther replied. "When the devil comes to me 
at night, I give him these and like answers: 'Devil, 
I must sleep now, for it is God's command and order 
9 



120 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

to labor by day and to rest and sleep by night.' 
Then, if he charges me with being a sinner, I say to 
spite him, 'Holy Satan, pray for me!' or else, 'Phy- 
sician, heal thyself!' To-day, when I awoke, the 
devil said to me, 'Thou art a sinner!' I retorted, 
'Tell me something new; I knew that long ago.' " 
Then he told how one must always stand firm upon 
Christ, otherwise the battle is lost; dwelt on the 
advantages that accrue to the Christian who over- 
comes temptation, and concluded by saying: "A 
preacher is made efficient through temptation. ' ' 

That was a clue to his calling. Immediately the 
smaller brother of the unmarred beard smacked his 
lips and said: 

"Be you the man the Lutherians had at their big 
meetin' yesterday?" 

"Yes, I am the man," replied Luther somewhat 
absently, for he was admiring the scenery in the gap. 

"Ah, yes," the spare Campbellite remarked, "your 
people are very strong and set in their ways — have 
a human name and a man-made creed." 

A Campbellite, be it observed, is a man who tries 
to monopolize the Christian name, thinks he can con- 
fess Christ without a credo, an "I believe," and 
struts around with a chip on his shoulder, ever 
ready, as Butler's Hudibras would say, to prove 
his doctrine orthodox by Campbellistic blows and 
knocks. 

Several orioles — like bits of sunshine incarnate 
and vocal — were darting in and out of the laurel- 



The King's Business Requires Haste 121 

bushes and stunted pines. Luther was watching 
them so intently that he did not hear the click of the 
Campbellite's polemical sword as he drew it from 
its scabbard. 

"The parson wants to know if it be right for us 
to go by the name Lutheran," said the mountaineer. 
"You didn't hear him ask." 

"Cease, my dear friends, to cling to these party 
names and distinctions — away with them all!" ex- 
claimed Luther. 

Humph, thought I, score one for the Campbellite. 

"You are more liberal, of wider mental horizon, 
than your people generally are," the Campbellite 
responded in flattering tone. "They stick to a man- 
made creed and act as if they believe in Luther for 
their salvation." 

"They do not believe in Luther, but in Christ him- 
self!" Luther promptly rejoined, not without right- 
eous indignation. "The Word holds them and they 
hold the Word: Luther they let slide, be he scamp or 
saint. God can speak as readily through Balaam as 
through Isaiah, through Caiaphas as well as Peter; 
yes, through a donkey. With those I also hold. 
For I myself do not know Luther, and I don't want 
to know him either; neither do I preach anything of 
him, but of Christ. The devil may get him — if he 
can; but he shall let Christ alone in peace." 

That was energetic. The Campbellite scratched 
his head: he had taken the wrong measure of his man. 

"It is enough," said he, "to declare you are a 



122 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

Christian, not a Lutheran, Episcopalian, or what not, 
if you are asked." 

"Verily, in such a case you must not use verbal 
reeds, but confess Christ freely, whether He has been 
preached by Luther, Claus or George," declared 
Luther most emphatically. "Let the person go, but 
you must confess the doctrine." 

"0 my dear sir," Alexander Campbell's disciple 
interrupted, "it 's not necessary to confess doctrine 
after any man — simply confess the Gospel. I 'd like 
to know where 's your Bible for more?" 

Turning around in his saddle, Luther instantly 
quoted from St. Paul to Timothy: "Be not thou 
therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor 
of me his prisoner." Then, holding the rein in his 
left hand and gesticulating with his right, he said: 
"If Timothy's confession of the Gospel had sufficed, 
Paul would not have commanded that he should not 
be ashamed of him; not that Paul alludes to himself 
as Paul, but that he refers to himself as one who is 
a prisoner for the sake of the Gospel. Now, if Tim- 
othy had said, I do not hold with Paul, nor with 
Peter, but with Christ, and nevertheless knew that 
Peter and Paul taught Christ, he thereby would 
indeed have denied Christ himself, for Christ says 
of those who preach Him: 'He that receiveth you, 
receiveth Me; he that despiseth you, despiseth Me.' 
Why? Because the treatment accorded His servants 
who carry His message is regarded as identically the 
same as if He himself were thus treated." 



The King's Business Requires Haste 123 

The Campbellite sat brooding. The brethren with 
the unmarred beards had been silent all the while. 
But the old mountaineer, a Lutheran in every fiber, 
turned and said: 

"It 'd be wrong, then, wouldn't it, for a body to 
be ashamed o' Luther, and kind o' shrink from bein* 
called a Lutheran?" 

"If you deem Luther's doctrine evangelical and 
that of the Pope unevangelical," he replied, putting 
the case in the concrete, "you must not heedlessly 
throw Luther aside; otherwise you also cast aside 
his doctrine which you acknowledge to be 
Christ's. But you must speak thus: Be Luther 
knave or saint, that does not concern me; his 
doctrine is not his own, but the teaching of Christ 
himself." 

"And I reckon you also hold to a creed like the rest 
of the Lutherans," the Campbellite asserted with 
petulance, jerking his bridle viciously. 

"At Augsburg in the year 1530," Luther replied 
calmly and impressively, bringing his horse neck to 
neck with the Campbellite 's, "we presented to his 
majesty, the Emperor, a Confession upon which, as 
it reads in its original sense and is understood and 
accepted by our churches, we still mean to stand by 
the grace of God." 

The face of Alexander Campbell's disciple turned 
red. A word for a creed is to a Campbellite what 
a prod for the Pope is to a Romanist: it is a chal- 
lenge. But before he could say aught, one of the 



124 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

Dunkards looked wise, smacked his lips, opened his 
mouth and spoke to the Campbellite, saying: 

"My dear brother in the Lord, there is a measly 
worm on your sleeve." 

Using middle finger and thumb as a catapult, he 
sent the caterpillar a distance which nothing but his 
theological ire would have made possible. 

" 'Tis a type of the devil in its crawling locomotion, 
and bears his colors in its changing hue," Luther 
remarked. 

I thought this observation would give the conver- 
sation a new trend; but the Campbellite was more 
concerned about fighting creeds than fighting the 
devil So he wheeled around sharply and said: 

"And you tie up the Church and all future genera- 
tions in your creed as tightly as Lazarus was wound 
in his grave-clothes!" 

"We," Luther replied, ignoring his opponent's 
sneer, "do not at all doubt that this, the doctrine 
of our Church, is certainly the eternal, identical, har- 
monious doctrine of the true Catholic Church of God, 
given through the prophets, Christ and the apostles, 
and that it accords with the Apostolic and Nicene 
Symbols, the ancient holy Councils, and the under- 
standing of the pure primitive Church. And hence, ' ' 
he spoke deliberately and shook his forefinger im- 
pressively, ' 'and hence we regard it also as necessary 
for the honor of God, right worship, the salvation 
of many people and for the planting and strength- 
ening of true faith in our successors that the con- 



The King's Business Requires Haste 125 

tents of these very doctrines which we set forth and 
teach in our churches, Confessions and Catechism be 
preached and held in concord in all our churches." 

"That be jist the way of it," our mountaineer de- 
clared, "jist the way." 

It must have been trying on this veteran to keep 
his sword in its scabbard and only nod approval 
occasionally. 

The Campbellite was angry. With flushed face 
he rejoined: "I, sir, hold that it is and always will 
be wrong to set up creeds and make their subscrip- 
tion a condition of church-membership. They divide 
the Church. Further, I hold that the Bible is the 
all-sufficient basis for the union of all sections of the 
Church. Creeds? Creeds are useless, and worse— 
they are sinful. 'One faith, one Lord, one baptism,' 
that is, believers' baptism. The Bible, the Bible 
only, and no creeds ! ' ' 

"That is not enough!" Luther replied promptly. 
And the man himself had just demonstrated that it 
was not enough when he added his explanation of 
baptism to the Scripture passage he quoted. As 
logicians, some people twist ropes for their own 
hanging and whistle in blissful ignorance of the con- 
sequence. "That is not enough," Luther continued. 
"Muenzer went trembling to his death, took the 
Bible and said he believed all that the Book contains. 
But that is not enough, one must baptize the babe." 

"It is enough!" Alexander Campbell's disciple ex- 
claimed, waxing more waspy. "I 'd like to know 



126 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

what right you have to hold anybody to anything but 
Scripture. ' ' 

"It is indeed true," said Luther calmly, "that in 
divine matters we should teach nothing aside from 
the Scriptures, as St. Hilary writes. That means no 
more than that we should teach nothing else. But 
that one should not employ more words, or use other 
phrases, than those employed in Scripture, cannot be 
observed, and especially not in controversy. And 
when heretics recklessly essayed to falsify things 
and distort the word of Scripture, it was impera- 
tively necessary to comprehend in a brief summary 
the sense of Scripture as established by so many 
passages. ' ' 

It is doubtful if Alexander Campbell's disciple 
saw the point. 

"A creed 's unwarranted, it 's an outrage!" cried 
he. "My church 's got none, I 've got none, and may 
God ever keep us from framing one!" 

"Oh, pshaw, Mister Parson," said the aged moun- 
taineer, ere Luther could utter a word, "talk be 
cheap; but it ain't so cheap in these here mountains 
as it is among the Yankees. ' ' So saying, he stroked 
his long, white beard slowly. 

We had entered a little valley — an emerald gem it 
was, with sunlit fields and shaded cabins — and 
the old sire was now riding at the side of the 
Campbellite. Still stroking his beard reflectively, 
he said: 

"Say, mister, you-all have got a creed, an' I kin 



The King's Business Requires Haste 127 

prove it. What ails you is that you be too dumb to 
know it, or else too sneakin' to let on." 
The Campbellite went off at a tangent. 

' ' Oh, jist keep your coat and wammus on. I reckon 
I kin prove what I say. I 'm a Lutheran as is n't 
ashamed of the old father what licked the Pope to 
a frazzle. Look here, Mister Preacher, do you be- 
lieve in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven 
and earth?" 

4 'Of course I do," he answered in anger that, no 
doubt, blinded his perception. ' 'Why ask such a silly 
question?" 

"And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord?" 
the old man asked, looking him in the eye. 

"To be sure." 

"Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of 
the Virgin Mary?" 

The Campbellite saw the drift of things. He 
hesitated. 

"You don't believe that, don't you?" the old man 
queried in taunting tone. "You don't believe Christ 
is God's Son and Mary's Son, eh? Well, if you 
don't, you 're no Christian, that 's all!" 

The taunt was too much. "I am a Christian. I 
do believe it," he answered. 

' ' Oh, all right then, ' ' our ancient said, "you believe 
that. So we be quits on that pint. Now, do you be- 
lieve He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, 
dead, and buried?" 

There was no reply. With flushed face and com- 



128 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

pressed lips our Campbellite gazed stolidly at the 
pommel of his saddle. Amazed that a minister 
would hesitate to confess Christ, Luther looked at 
him with pitying eye and said: 

"Christ saith, 'Whosoever therefore shall confess 
Me before men, him will I confess also before My 
Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall 
deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My 
Father which is in heaven. ' ' ' 

"Sir," said he, without looking up, "I believe as 
firmly as this old codger ever did that Jesus Christ 
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, 
and buried." 

"Why, of course you believe it, but why didn't 
you say so right away?" the mountaineer said 
calmly. "Now, do you believe He descended into 
hell?" 

"No, not a bit of it! " he exclaimed with the anima- 
tion of new hope. 

"You don't, don't you? Well, we'll see," quoth 
our examiner, stroking his beard. "St. Peter says, 
Christ was 'put to death in the flesh, but quickened 
by the Spirit, by which also He went and preached 
unto the spirits in prison,' that be, them as was dis- 
obedient in the days of Noah. Do you believe that? ' ' 

"Yes," he answered faintly, with eyes riveted on 
the pommel. 

"Well, that 's all the same," our venerable father 
commented, "all the same. Now, do you believe that 
the third day He rose again from the dead, ascended 



The King's Business Requires Haste 129 

into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the 
Father almighty, from thence He shall come to judge 
the quick and the dead?" 

"Brethren," exclaimed Alexander Campbell's dis- 
ciple, "I forgot to stop at Sister Mary Ann Pratt's. 
I must do what the Good Book says, 'Visit the wid- 
ows in their affliction. ' " So saying, he wheeled his 
horse around. 

"Naw, ye don't," cried our father, clutching the 
bridle of his opponent's horse. 

1 ' The King's business requires haste, ' ' protested the 
recusant. 

"Naw, ye don't back-track jist yet. I calkerlate 
you '11 answer me that question fust." 

We gathered around the principals. The brethren 
of the unmarred beards looked on with sheepish 
faces, for, though they sympathized with their trav- 
eling companion, they remembered discussions of 
their own with this Lutheran patriarch and dis- 
creetly kept silence. My good father Luther was 
quite disgusted. 

"Is this to act the part of a faithful theologian?" 
he asked. "Can you feel a serious interest in your 
cause and thus leave your auditors in suspense, and 
your arguments in a state that confuses and exas- 
perates them, while you, nevertheless, wish to ap- 
pear as having given honest satisfaction and open 
explanation?" 

It was in vain that the discomfited disciple of 
Campbell struggled to get out of the mountaineer's 



130 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

clutches. He kept his hold on the bridle and his 
tongue on the matter in hand. 

"If you don't believe it, you 're no Christian," he 
declared defiantly. "Now, do you, or don't you? 
Yes or no?" 

Finally our mountaineer's taunting insistence 
turned hesitation into painful suspense and the 
Campbellite mumbled most shamefacedly that he did 
believe it. 

Thereupon the old man, still holding the horse by 
the bridle and looking the minister in the eye, said 
curtly: "Do you believe in the Holy Ghost?" The 
battle was lost to the Campbellite, as it was, and he 
said yes, for it was to his advantage to put an end to 
the suspense, especially since it required nothing but 
honesty and promptness from him. The old man put 
each successive clause of the sentence and received 
the same affirmative reply. When the last answer 
was given, he exclaimed triumphantly: 

"There now, that was the Apostles' Creed, and you 
confessed every word of it! Didn't I tell you that 
you-all had a creed, but that you are too dumb to 
know it or too deceivin' to come out with it? Now 
you may go!" 

And Alexander Campbell's disciple did go; in fact, 
he went with unseemly haste to visit Sister Mary 
Ann Pratt in her afflictions. As he rode away, he 
had the effrontery to turn and say to us: 

"I shall pray for you in your bondage. May the 
good Lord bring you to the knowledge of the truth. ' ' 



The King's Business Requires Haste 131 

Well, the aged mountaineer had handled his point 
nicely and deserved the compliment he got from 
Luther. He was a warrior who knew how to draw 
the Sword of the Spirit. A little later, he left us, 
and we were loth to see him go. We had our last 
glimpse of him when the strains of a hymn drew our 
attention to the mountain. He was jogging along a 
bit of level road singing at the top of his voice: 

"My Church! my Church! my dear old Church! 
My fathers' and my own," 

and swaying his body to the rhythm of the tune. 

Now that the patriarch of the mountains was out 
of the way, the Dunkards talked some — in fact, a 
deal; but they did not say much. The reader will 
understand what bright theologians they were when 
it is stated that one of them, to prove it sinful for 
women to wear their hair in knots on top of their 
heads, cited these words from the seventeenth verse 
of the twenty-fourth chapter of St. Matthew: "top 
not come down!" However, they also soon left us 
to visit a widow in her affliction. Luther character- 
ized them quite well when he said to me: 

"I would give all my fingers, save three to write 
with, could I find divinity so light and easy as they 
take it to be." 

Left thus to travel alone, we made better prog- 
ress; but it was late, long after the appearance of 
the stars, when we arrived at the old manse at the 
edge of the Shenandoah Valley. It was a spacious, 



132 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

one-story frame building with large porches, sup- 
ported by huge columns, a relic, no doubt, of colonial 
days. The family was hospitable, and the good- 
wife's maiden sister, an elderly dame, much given 
to much snuff, was one of the kindest women I ever 
met. She never permitted the domestics to scatter 
anything but snuff to kill moths, "for," said she, 
"if the poor things must be killed, let them die in a 
paroxysm of joy by exploding of a good sneeze!" 

We spent some very pleasant days at this home. 
Luther devoted his forenoons to writing a treatise 
on The Antichrist, and I scoured fields and 
dells when not acting as his amanuensis. He usu- 
ally worked at a fever-heat, and very often, it 
seemed, with the enemies of the cause in his mind's 
eye. Once, when I alluded to this, he said: 

"When roused to anger, I become firmer and keener 
witted. All my temptations and enemies are put to 
flight. I never write or speak better than when 
excited. ' ' 

This sojourn was pleasant and profitable. I was 
sorry the evening Luther handed me a letter and 
said: 

"I think that to-morrow or the day after, we shall 
breakup and go." 

The letter was from the president of one of the 
synods in Pennsylvania which belong to the General 
Council. 



VIII. BRETHREN BLAND AND OTHERWISE 

Oftentimes excusing of a fault 
Doth make the fault the worse by the excuse ; 
As patches, set upon a little breach, 
Discredit more, in hiding of the fault, 
Than did the fault before it was so patched. — Shakespeare. 

HREE days later we were sitting 
in the office of a hotel in South- 
eastern Pennsylvania, waiting for 
the opening hour of the collo- 
quium. Luther was leafing through 
a magazine and I was trying to 
recall what I had read concerning 
the origin of the General Council 




"Aside from bare annals," said I, turning from the 
window to Luther, "I doubt if there is anything at 
all like trustworthy history. Anyhow, the more 
readable, the less reliable. ' ' 

"Who could write history and tell the truth without 
engendering enmity?" he asked, not divining my 
bent of thought. "It calls for a gifted man with a 
lion heart to write the truth unafraid." 

"Evidently," said I. "And the partisan lacks the 
first requisite of the historian simply because he is 
a partisan. But I have been brooding over the his- 
tories of our synods. If you read one, certain men, 
motives and movements were all right; if you read 
another, the same men, motives and movements were 
(133) 



134 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

all wrong.* And these warped and perverted things 
are labeled 'History.' Bah!" 

"Verily, they should be written with the greatest 
care, faithfulness and accuracy," Luther replied, 
seeing that my choler was rising. "But, methinks, 
that will nevermore be unless the method which 
obtained among the Jews is re-established." Then 
he threw the magazine on the table and bit his lip a 
moment. "In the meantime," he added with a smile, 
looking me in the eye, "in the meantime we shall 
have to take our histories as they are and now and 
then make observations for ourselves and judge 
whether or not the author veers from his course on 
account of bias and praises and censures too much 
or too little according to his feelings towards people 
and things, just as under this loose government the 
teamsters adulterate the wine in its transit over land 
and water, and make it impossible to procure the 
pure juice of the vine, and we have to put up with 
it and be glad none the less that we get the most of 
the wine or — some of it." 

"Glad? Nay, not a bit of it," I rejoined. "I wish 
the whole tribe had writers' cramp instead of 

*The recent history of a district synod in connection 
with the Council is a distressing case in point. If it is 
not a fifty-year-old grudge, it is very unfortunate in 
method and language. However, it is less insidious and 
baneful than some others, for, since it brings dishonor 
upon those who published it, it cannot harm those whom 
it belabors. — Editor. 



Brethren Bland and Otherwise 135 

writers' itch. Then they would quit scratching. 
Anyhow, what good is there in these graveyard 
polemics? I 'm sick and tired of it all. What dif- 
ference does it make what the men of a certain synod 
were twenty-five years ago, fifty years ago, seventy- 
five years ago, a hundred years ago? The question 
is, What are the men of that synod right now? That 
is the only question worth while. Am I to refuse my 
hand to a fine, clean young man because he has not 
acknowledged the fact that his grandsire was a 
chicken thief? Must a man declare in sackcloth and 
ashes that he has the bellyache because his synodical 
great-grandfathers ate green apples?" 

Luther leaned back in his chair and laughed, and 
the more he laughed the more was I nettled. 

"Well, yom may make merry if you will," said I 
curtly; "but I have come to the place where I can 
no longer stand this sort of thing with equanimity. 
Why don't they tell some of the good, and beautiful, 
and noble things; why — " 
"They are veritable hogs," intercepted Luther, 
"who care nothing for the roses and violets in the 
garden, but are wholly bent on poking their snouts 
into the muck." 

The clock struck the half -hour. We dropped the 
subject and walked down to the church. It stood 
back from the street and about a score of sleek, well- 
fed men of God were grouped in front of it. 

All these dominies, save one, wore either clerical 

10 



136 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

vests or dickies. That lone exception must have felt 
as if he did not have all his clothes on. But I like 
not this gear inasmuch as the weightiest reason for 
wearing it smells of soiled linen. Worn to save 
launderer's bills, clerical vests are passable; to 
advertise the preacher, questionable; for style, 
abominable. 

But these, I would have you understand, were all 
congenial and magnetic men. They were swapping 
experiences, and Luther was soon the soul of the 
company. No matter where he sat, that was the 
head of the table. 

"Sermons at conferences and synods are, as a rule, 
poor efforts," the elderly man with side-whiskers 
was saying. "It is almost impossible to feel free 
while preaching to ministers." 

"I do not like to see Pommer, Jonas, or Philip at 
my services," said Luther, "for they know it all 
better than I do." 

"But what do you do then?" queried a young 
pastor. 

"I hold the cross before me and say: 'Avaunt, 
Philip ! ' Then I take courage and make-believe I am 
the first orator of the day. Nor do I preach to them, 
but to my Lena, John, Elsie — these I keep in mind. ' ' 

"Many a time after preaching," remarked the 
elderly minister, "I have felt like kicking myself." 
Luther smiled, yet there was something sympa- 
thetic in his countenance. 

"Sometimes," quoth he, "on coming down from 



Brethren Bland and Otherwise 137 

the pulpit, I spit on my preacher's gown and say: 
'Pooh! how you did preach! You surely made a 
pretty mess of it, not so much as sticking to the out- 
line you prepared." Then the smile faded away, and 
a sober look came in its stead. ' 'And yet," he added, 
1 'just that sermon was praised by the people as being 
better and finer than any I had delivered in many a 
day. I hold that this matter of preaching is vastly 
different from what we think it is." 

So Luther's heart, with its fears and its trials, 
was like every other good preacher's, save that it 
was bigger. And it is just this open-heartedness of 
his which goes so far in explaining the universal 
admiration which he receives. This hero is not a 
demigod, but a brother, and men love him. 

"The best preacher," he continued, "is one of 
whom we can say after hearing him: This is what he 
said. On the other hand, he is a poor stick of whom 
it may be truthfully said: I do not know what he 
said." 

"Still the matter of polish should not be neglected," 
observed a bantam who had not yet moulted his sem- 
inary feathers. "The Sword of the Spirit is worthy 
of the best hilt we can give it." 

This youngster parted his hair in the middle and 
wore a monocle. I liked it not. 

"A heavenly mind 
May be indifferent to her house of clay, 
And slight the hovel as beneath her care; 
But how a body so fantastic, trim, 



138 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

And quaint in its deportment and attire, 

Can lodge a heavenly mind — demands a doubt.*'* 

"Albert Duerer, the famous painter of Nurem- 
berg," replied Luther patiently, "used to say that 
he took no pleasure in paintings surcharged with 
colors, but in those of a less ambitious kind. I say 
the same of sermons." 

"But we must pay some attention to the aesthetic 
tastes of the people," asserted the young man, 
adjusting his monocle. "The sermon must be 
popular. ' ' 

"Endeavor to preach God our Savior and reck not 
what the world may jabber about you," was the tart 
rejoinder. "What care I if people say I know not 
how to preach? My only fear before God is that I 
may not have spoken of His majesty and marvelous 
works as I ought to have done." 

"Yes, but it 's the world we must con — " 

"The world is like a drunken farmer," said 
Luther impatiently. "Help him into the saddle on 
one side and he falls out on the other. Do what you 
will, it is not satisfactory." Then, counting them 
off on his fingers, he said: "As the world would now 
have him, a preacher must possess six qualifications: 
first, he must be learned; second, he must have a 
fine delivery; third, he must be suave; fourth, he 
must be a handsome body whom matrons and 

*Cowper's Poems, Book II. of The Task. The 
preacher will profit by reading the entire poem. 



Brethren Bland and Otherwise 139 

maidens can admire; fifth, he must not take money, 
but he must give it; and sixth, he must preach such 
things as people like to hear." 

The senior pastor looked at his watch. 
"It is time for the colloquy," said he. "Let us go 
into the church and begin." 

It was a neat interior and churchly withal, but it 
bore a close resemblance to an Anglican chapel. 
"An admirable sanctuary," whispered a young 
pastor who sat behind us, "expresses the Lu- 
theran idea and meets the requirements of our 
cultus." 

Luther looked mystified, but said nothing. 

The session was opened by using a part of the 
Common Service. It was well rendered. However, 
it was scarcely ended when our new acquaintance, 
who had evidently made a special study of liturgies, 
church architecture, paramentics* and kindred sub- 
jects, leaned over and began to extol this form of 
worship. 

"We will ultimately get this service into every 
English-speaking congregation in the land," said he 
in concluding his rhapsody. "We want uniformity. 
And besides, this is altogether the best form. It is 
the consensus of pure Lutheran liturgies. In its 
newest parts it is as old as the time of the Refor- 
mation; in its order and in the great body of its con- 



*The science of hangings, not for executioners, but 
for churches. 



140 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

tents it represents the pure service of the Christian 
Church of the West from the earliest times; and it 
embraces all the essentials of worship from the estab- 
lishment of the Christian Church on earth.* It will 
also prove a potent factor in producing church liness. 
For instance, you observe that this congregation has 
altar-vestments of the proper canonical colorsf for 
each season of the Church year; and — " 

"Yet, if I could control the whole situation with a 
single wish," Luther replied, "I would prefer that 
in these matters you abide by your own customs in 
your land; for when we begin to make all things in 
all localities uniform they become articles of faith 
and fetters, as happened, in Popedom. However, if 
they remain diverse, that will be an excellent pre- 
ventive of this eviL Necessity itself demands diver- 
sity of ceremonies." 

This was like wormwood and gall to our liturgical 
enthusiast. He made a wry face and might have 
retorted, but just then the chairman, our elderly 



♦These are fine words and true. The Common 
Service is undoubtedly the finest and best form of 
worship in the English language. But — remember the 
Anglicans ! 

fit has been rumored that the Liturgical Asso- 
ciation is about to petition the General Council to 
have its hymn-books bound in the canonical colors, so 
each worshiper's book will match the altar-cloth for the 
season; but this is, I think, to be taken cum grano 
s a 1 i s. 



Brethren Bland and Otherwise 141 

friend, announced that the committee was ready to 
begin the colloquy. 

I wondered what our good father would have said 
had he been asked for his opinion on some questions 
that perplex members of the Council brotherhood, 
as, for instance: Are certain choir vestments Lu- 
theran? or what he would have answered had he 
been consulted on the proper material, dimensions 
and ornamentation for corporal, pall and purifica- 
tors?* As it was, now that he was rising to go up 
to the examiners, he said bluntly: 
"I am impatient even of necessary ceremonies, but 
hostile to those which are not necessary; for it is 
easy for ceremonies to grow into canons, and, once 
established as laws, they soon become snares for the 
conscience." 

Luther took a front pew. The committee occu- 
pied chairs at a small table. Besides our elderly 
friend, there was a little man like Zacchseus of the 
sycamore-tree, and a lank individual, long-coupled 
between ribs and hips — one of the kind that it must 
be very discouraging to cook for a whole lifetime. 
These two were past fifty. All three were bland in 
manners and clerical in appearance — in short, men 
of pious magnetism. 

I was morally certain that this committee would 
accept Luther. And why not? The General Council 

*Linens used in connection with the celebration of 
the Lord's Supper. 



142 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

accepts all the Confessions of the Church. Then, 
too, they make the impression of being more politic 
than other Lutherans. If a Lutheran doctrine or 
custom strikes a convert unfavorably, the Joint 
Synod man will hold it before him as it is, and ham- 
mer away; the Missouri man will, if possible, make 
it appear crass, and hammer away; but the Council 
man will turn the thing around, or, failing in that, 
lead the man around it. As for hammering away, 
that is to be thought of only when one's ingenuity 
is plumb gone. So far as real Lutherans go, your 
Council man is the nearest approach to a Yankee in 
a Lutheran gown — virile, versatile, vivacious. It is 
true, he will not stand by all the deductions from 
the Confessions; in fact, deductions are unsavory to 
him; but he says they are the other fellow's deduc- 
tions, and the other fellow is fallible. In major mat- 
ters, others must concede that Council men stand 
right; in minor matters, Council men must admit 
that they diverge from others and differ among 
themselves. Dr. Krauth set the hour-hand very 
accurately, but died before he succeeded in regulat- 
ing the minute-hand. 

Ruminating thus, I settled down in my pew. We 
had evidently reached the end of our tramp. 

The chairman who, by the way, had a pleasant 
voice, now started a rapid fire of questions on the 
Holy Scriptures and then took up the Confessions 
in the same quick and thorough way. It was like an 
examination by a lawyer. 



Brethren Bland and Otherwise 143 

By this time, I think, he had formed a pretty cor- 
rect estimate of Luther: this thing was to be no 
child's play. Rising to his feet, he said: 
"In conducting this colloquy we shall follow a def- 
inite course, taking Dr. Jacobs's recent book as our 
basis. Brethren who desire to ask questions will 
please keep the outline in mind. The subject is 
Redemption, and the parts, briefly stated, are: 
first, its Prerequisites; second, its Preparation; 
third, its Application; fourth, its Effect; fifth, its 
Administration. ' ' 

The examination glided along smoothly. I heard 
the town-clock strike eleven, and it was still gliding 
along smoothly; but — but then it struck a snag. 

The chairman glanced at his watch and also at the 
faces of his fellow committeemen. 

Paradoxically enough, the altercation was threat- 
ened by Glorification, the last division under the 
Effect of Redemption. 

"According to my timepiece," said the chairman in 
his bland way, "it is almost the time for adjourn- 
ment and, I opine, it is somewhat after the hour 
according to your appetites. Lunch hath charms to 
soothe the ruffled breast. As you know — 

'All human history attests 
That happiness for man — the hungry sinner — 
Since Eve ate apples, much depends on dinner!' 

'Now good digestion wait on appetite, and health on 
both.' We stand adjourned to—" 



144 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

"We still have twenty minutes!" exclaimed an 
auditor. The speaker was standing in the aisle — a 
big man with a close-cropped gray mustache. 
"Brother Martin, what, in your opinion, are the doc- 
trines which teach two resurrections* and a reign of 
Christ upon earth for one thousand years?" he asked. 

"Deceptive dreams of Jews and Chiliasts," he an- 
swered curtly. 

One of the men at the table turned red. The 
chairman, who was still standing, quickly turned 
towards the altar; but in vain, for down over the 
back of his bald head slid the telltale blush. 

"You must certainly concede," said the flushed 
man at the table, "that an unbiased reader would 
get nothing else out of the passages which mention 
this, than just such a doctrine of the millennium, "f 

"But here, right at the beginning," said Luther, 
rising, for he was tired of sitting, ' 'here, right at the 



*On this point Dr. J. A. S e i s s says : "The placing 
of it as the first in a category of two resurrections, 
the second of which is specifically stated to be the literal 
rising again of such as were not raised in the first, fixes 
the sense to be a literal resurrection." — E d i t o r. 

fThat is, a doctrine which asserts (a) that the bind- 
ing of Satan for a thousand years still lies in the future, 
and (b) that Christ will govern the world for the same 
period before the consummation. Prominent members 
of the General Council have taught thus. For instance : 

Dr. Weidner says : "Most commentators, since the 
time of Augustine, suppose that this binding of Satan 
for a thousand years began when Christ gained the vie- 



Brethren Bland and Otherwise 145 

beginning, we must advise the Christian reader to 
use the utmost caution and guard himself against 
the false dreams of Jews and Chiliasts who apply 
such spiritual promises of God to a material and 
earthly kingdom and thus fall into a twofold flagrant 
error; for thus they lose and know not Christ the 
Lord, whose government is spiritual, and thus they 
wait in vain for Christ to establish a corporeal king- 
dom upon earth." 

The elderly man turned around sharply. 

1 'A modified form of Millenarianism has been found 

at all times here and there among the prominent 

teachers of our Church," said he in his soft tone. 

"It is entirely compatible with orthodoxy — only 

tory over Satan by His death on the cross, or that it 
began at some definite period in the past. But such an 
interpretation is inconsistent with the whole teaching of 
the Apocalypse, with the history of the Church in the 
past, and with Christian experience." 

Dr. S e i s s says : "Then conies the great Millennial 
Period, the thousand years during which Satan is bound. 
* * * Its special marks are: the absence of Satan's de- 
ceits and machinations, the supplanting of all 
human governments by the direct heavenly rule 
and dominion of Christ and His glorified saints, and that 
new order called the shepardizing of the nations with a 
rod of iron, or the irresistible enforcement of the prin- 
ciple of righteousness in all things, by which the whole 
living world shall then be reduced to order and obedi- 
ence to truth and right." 

This is the kind of doctrine Luther is combating in 
the text.— Editor 



146 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

looks for a time of ease, tranquility and prosperity 
for the Church." 

Luther stopped short, wheeled around and said: 

"It is not to be expected that the world will grow 
better, especially not now since it is approaching its 
end and is on the verge of the pit. Psalm One Hun- 
dred and Ten, verse one: 'Sit Thou at My right hand 
until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. ' This text 
states plainly and emphatically, that there will 
always be foes so long as our Christ reigns upon 
earth." 

"But what do you make of those thousand years in 
Revelation during which Satan is chained?" asked 
a voice from the audience. 

"The thousand years must begin when this book 
was written, for the Turk did not arise till after the 
lapse of ten centuries. Meanwhile the Christians 
lived and reigned, sans the devil's — " 

"Brethren, let us relegate this subject to the rear," 
counseled the chairman. "We have our decided con- 
victions, but find no fault with men who stand on 
either side." 

Luther looked dumbfounded. For a moment his 
words stuck in his throat. Then he asked: 

"Is this the part of a faithful theologian?" 

"That is hitting him pretty hard," the man sitting 
beside me whispered. 

"Yes," I replied in an undertone. "But, honestly 
now, does n't it look as if you of the Council were 
rather indifferent to a lot of things, and, among them, 



Brethren Bland and Otherwise 147 

big things, too? For instance, here is the Predesti- 
nation controversy, which has been waged fiercely, 
decade after decade, from one end of the land to the 
other, and the General Council has n't so much as 
said where it stands." 

"True; but you must bear in mind that — " 

"Is this the part of a faithful theologian?" Luther 
thundered again. 

Now popped up another man in the rear of the 
church. 

"Brother Martin, how about this newfangled pur- 
gatory?" he asked. 

The committee looked vexed. It was evident that 
these interrogations were being put solely for the 
purpose of embarrassing some of the brotherhood. 
Little wonder that cheeks mantled. It does seem 
that every time preachers get together in conference, 
at least one of them must needs drop a fly into the 
ointment.* 

"How about this purgatory?" piped another voice 
with the ring of persistency. 

"In His Word God has laid down two ways," re- 
plied Luther, "one of which by faith leads to salva- 
tion, and the other by unbelief to damnation. As 
for purgatory, no passage in Scripture mentions it, 

*That is an old observation. Gregory Nazienzen 
(A. D. 328-389) blurts out : "I never yet saw a council of 
bishops come to a good end. I salute them afar off, since 
I know how troublesome they are. I nevermore will sit 
in those assemblies of cranes and geese." — E d i t o r. 



148 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

nor dare we in any way tolerate it, for it obscures 
and depreciates the grace of God, the benefits and 
merits of our blessed Savior, Christ Jesus — " 

"No, not that," thrust in the pastor who had raised 
the question. "I mean that newfangled Protestant 
purgatory for the heathen. In short, do you believe 
that individuals who do not have the opportunity 
to hear the Gospel in this world will have a chance 
to hear it elsewhere after death?" 

"That cannot be proved," Luther replied emphat- 
ically. "We read that—" 

"Just a moment, please," interposed the chairman. 
"We lack the time now to take up this question." 

"And we see no reason for introducing it here," 
said the little member with a flash in his eye and a 
tremor in his voice. "None of our men teach that." 

"We have n't yet said they did," the man who put 
the question retorted. "We simply want to know if 
this applicant holds such opinions. A little of that doc- 
trine is like a pinch of asaf etida — more than enough! ' ' 
The committee entered into consultation, and Lu- 
ther, who had been standing in the aisle waiting for 
an opportunity to speak, continued: 

"I am well aware that some fifteen years ago many 
were of the opinion that every man would be saved 
according to his own belief. But what else is that 
than making a church of all the enemies of Christ? 
From this it would soon follow that the Word was 
given to no purpose and the Son of God sent in 
vain." 






Brethren Bland and Otherwise 149 

"But this purgatory," piped the persistent piper. 

"But to come to the point," said Luther: " 'It is 
appointed unto men once to die, but after this the 
judgment.' " 

"Just a moment, please," interjected the lank 
member, raising his hand. "This matter is imma- 
terial to us at — " 

"Brother Martin," broke in another, "what do you 
think of those men who wear little aprons and pour 
oil and wine on corner-stones?" 

"They are odd fellows," replied Luther. 

"No, I didn't mean the Odd Fellows, but it 's all 
the same. Where do you stand on the lodge 
question?" 

Luther looked mystified, and the committee 
looked horrified. 

"This question does not belong here," said the lank 
examiner, rising to his feet. 

"We are more concerned for the thing itself than 
we are about the proper place for it," the pastor 
with the close-cropped mustache replied; "and, be- 
sides, it may have more to do with glorification than 
you are ready to concede. Brother Martin, ' • said he 
in a kind tone, turning to Luther, "a lodge is a 
secret society. This land teems with them. As a 
rule they are oath-bound, are made up — " 

"He who makes an unnecessary oath," cut in Lu- 
ther, "commits sin." 

"Are made up of believers and unbelievers, and 
have a form of worship. What say — " 



150 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

"Have a care," exclaimed Luther, "have a care 
that you do not give this tomfoolery and pretense 
the glorious name of divine service!" 

"What say you to this?" the large man concluded. 

"They worship a god of their own invention." 

"That is a hard saying," snapped the tiny exam- 
iner. "Some noble men belong to these organiza- 
tions, and they have done some fine things." 

"Everything that is outside of Christ, be it as fine 
and great as it may," replied Luther, "is nothing 
but idolatry." 

"Now," queried the pastor who had raised the 
question, "what would you say if a preacher were 
a member of — " 

"Irrelevant now, entirely irrelevant," piped my 
little Zacchaeus. 

"Out of place here," said the lank examiner. 

"Not germane," declared the chairman. 

"What kind of theology is this?" Luther asked in 
a tone of indignation. "What kind of theology is 
this that will make no difference between the Word 
and no Word, between light and darkness?" 

"Irrelevant here, entirely irrelevant here," the 
little man piped again. 

"Let 's close with prayer," said the chairman with 
unseemly haste. 

Luther looked chagrined. 

"This is not the time for such maneuvering!" he 
protested. 

The chairman did not hear, or hearing, did not 



Brethren Bland and Otherwise 151 

heed, and a prayer took the place of the rule of 
closure. 

This exasperated the Reformer. To him the con- 
duct of the committee was evidence of doctrinal 
indifference. No matter what I said during the noon 
recess to excuse its actions, he would only shake his 
head and say, "Slippery!" So he came to the after- 
noon session in a wary and testy mood. 

On the way to the church we passed several min- 
isters who were smoking". This would not be worthy 
of notice had they not looked so sheepish. It was 
those vests!* 

Our elderly friend opened the session by making 
a statement in which he ignored the differences of 
the forenoon. 

"It is with a feeling of regret that I find our pleas- 
ant task is almost done," said he quite pensively. 
"We have but one part of our subject left, namely, 
the Administration of Redemption. Two things 
claim our attention here, to- wit: the Church and the 
Ministry. ' ' 

"Slippery," whispered Luther. 

"Sooth," quoth I, "it does look like pussy-footed 
sidestepping. ' ' 

*For those who like to be known and noticed every- 
where as ministers, this dress is the thing. But such 
pastors must be specially on their guard against unmin- 
isterial deportment. — Dr. Gerberding, The Lu- 
theran Pastor, p. 152. 

11 



152 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

"Now, Brother Martin," said the chairman in con- 
clusion, "let us compare notes on the doctrine of the 
Church." 

All went well until one of the examiners laid a 
great deal of stress on the doctrine of the Rep- 
resentative Church. This was drawing a line of 
cleavage between laymen and preachers which 
Luther did not like. Moreover, he had grown 
suspicious. 

The controversy waxed warm. 

"Let us pass over this point," said the elderly man 
in that soft tone which was beginning to irritate. 
"Good Lutherans have differed on the amount of 
emphasis to be given it." 

"This is that part of the discussion where matters 
come to a turning point," Luther rejoined in a very 
decided tone. 

"Well," the leanest of the examiners replied, "this 
question may be elucidated when we discuss the Call, 
Office of the Keys, and similar things. ' ' 

"Christ gave the keys to the whole congregation," 
declared Luther, who would not budge. 

Henceforth there was a marked difference on 
almost every point. 

For a time the controversy centered on the ninth 
verse of the second chapter of the First Epistle of 
St. Peter: "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal 
priesthood * * * that ye should show forth the 
praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness 
into His marvelous light." Luther had quoted it to 



Brethren Bland and Otherwise 153 

show that all were priests and that all had equal 
rights and similar duties. 

It was the lean committeeman who grew waspy. 
That seems to lie in the nature of these thin crea- 
tures. Your fat man says: "I will take mine ease"; 
your lean chap says: "I will take the other fel- 
low's." And he usually does. 

"This passage does not prove that all members of 
the brotherhood have equal rights," his leanness 
asserted. "Women belong to the priesthood of be- 
lievers; but women are excluded from the office by 
specific command. 'Let your women keep silence in 
the churches,' says St. Paul, 'for it is not permitted 
unto them to speak.' Consequently, all have not the 
same rights. That much is plain." 

"I reply," said Luther, "we do not allow the dumb, 
or those otherwise unable or unqualified, to preach 
either. Though everyone has power to preach, yet 
we should not choose anybody for this purpose, nor 
should any one presume to do it, unless he has special 
qualifications. Paul forbids women to speak in the 
church, where there are men capable of doing it, 
that all may be done decently and orderly. It is 
much more proper and becoming for men, and they 
are also better qualified." 

"That interpretation," was the rejoinder, "is nec- 
essary to bolster up the transference theory of the 
office; but it is wrong — dead wrong. But to come 
back to the passage: if all believers are priests with 
the right to administer the means of grace, because 



154 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

they are here called priests, then they are also kings 
with the right to perform kingly functions, because 
they are here spoken of as royal and are elsewhere 
called kings." 

Now Luther grew eloquent and spoke long. The 
spiritual is real, very real, he insisted. The spiritual 
priest is a priest, the spiritual king is a king, that 
or nothing. 

"But they are not such crazy kings as those of this 
world," he declared. "Compared with believers, 
these are but counters and painted kings, for they 
rule merely temporarily and externally. But believ- 
ers are real kings; not that they wear a golden crown 
and bear a golden scepter, or deck themselves with 
silk and velvet, purple and gold; but are that which 
is far more glorious — lords over death and the devil, 
hell and evil. ' ' 

While Luther was speaking, another minister 
came in and took a seat in front of me. You simply 
had to look at this man. He had a head shaped like 
Shakespeare's and a beard cut like Shakespeare's. 
The one he got from nature; the other from the bar- 
ber. The newcomer, who held a petty office in a 
district synod, listened a few minutes and then whis- 
pered to his neighbor: 

"Your applicant talks like a member of the Joint 
Synod of Ohio." 

"A haughty and pig-headed set they are," whis- 
pered the other. 

"Yes; if the Joint Synod of Ohio were perfectly at 



Brethren Bland and Otherwise 155 

one with us in doctrine, I would never agree to a 
union between them and us, unless they should first 
show a different spirit." 

I leaned over to give him a piece of my mind; 
but — I remembered that a prominent member of my 
own synod had said the same thing of another body,* 
and I was ashamed. 

In the meantime the committee had bumped their 
pates together. The presiding officer now announced 
the result: 

"Even if we should, for argument's sake, grant all 
you have set forth, it would not, so far as we can 
see, prove that the duties of the spiritual priest- 
hood are the same as those of the ministry. 
Clearly, laymen are one thing and ministers are 
another." 

Straightway Luther was on his feet. 
"No one can deny," said he, "that every Christian 
has God's Word, is taught of God and anointed as 
priest, as Christ says in the forty-fifth verse of the 
sixth chapter of St. John: 'They shall be all taught 
of God'; and as the Forty-fifth Psalm says in verse 
seven: 'God hath anointed Thee with the oil of glad- 
ness above Thy fellows.' These 'fellows' are the 

♦These statements are significant. Let alone, official- 
dom will always find some sort of justification for sep- 
aration, and some sort of reason against union; for, be 
it observed, if we ever get a united Church, certain syn- 
odical lights will henceforth and forever be satellites. — 
Editor. 



156 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

Christians, Christ's brethren, who are consecrated 
with Him as priests, as St. Peter also says: 'Ye are 
a chosen generation, a royal priesthood * * * that 
ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath 
called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.' 
But if it be true that they have God's Word and are 
anointed by Him, they are also under obligation to 
teach and propagate it, as St. Paul says: 'We have 
the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, 
I believed and therefore have I spoken: we also be- 
lieve and therefore speak. ' And in Psalm Fifty-one, 
verse thirteen, the prophet says for all Christians: 'I 
will teach transgressors Thy ways and sinners shall 
be converted unto Thee. ' Thus here it is again obvi- 
ous that a Christian not only has the right and 
power to teach God's Word, but that he is bound 
to do so if he would save his soul and retain divine 
grace. ' ' 

"I humbly crave your pardon, sir," said the lank 
examiner ironically; "but all that is merely your 
own interpretation. It is without ancient example. 
The early Church did not act thus." 

"Thus did St. Stephen* to whom the apostles had 
not commended the office of preaching, and yet he 
preached and did great wonders and miracles among 
the people," Luther replied. "Thus did Philip, the 
deacon, upon whom again the office of preaching was 
not conferred.! Thus also did Apollos."^ 

*Acts vi. 8. fActs viii. 5. $Acts xviii. 25. 



Brethren Bland and Otherwise 157 

"You make bishops, priests, pastors of all laymen, 
and that without a call," retorted the lank examiner. 

"Thou sayest falsely that I make bishops, priests 
and pastors of all laymen, and teach that they may 
officiate without a call," he replied; "and, pious as 
thou art, concealest the fact that I write also that 
no one should presume to administer the office with- 
out being called, except in extreme necessity." 

"The brethren are laboring under a misapprehen- 
sion, ' ' said the pastor who reminded me of the Bard 
of Avon. "The applicant holds what is known as the 
Uebertragungslehre: the many in the congre- 
gation delegate their rights to one for the sake of 
order, and he thus becomes pastor; but this doc- 
trine is — " 

"Just as if ten brothers, sons of a king," Luther 
interrupted, "and all alike heirs, elected one to 
administer the estate. They would all be kings and 
equal in power, and still the administration would 
be in the hands of one." 

"To say the congregation makes the minister by 
its call, is degrading the office," said the elderly 
member. 

"The call to the ministry must be given by the 
Church," declared the lean member. 

"And the Church is not laymen without ministers, 
nor ministers without laymen; but ministers and lay- 
men," explained the little member. 

"To make it plainer," said Luther: "if a number 
of pious lay members were taken captive and placed 



158 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

in a wilderness without a priest consecrated by a 
bishop, and they should agree among themselves to 
elect one of their number, and would commit to him 
the office of baptizing, administering the Eucharist, 
absolving and preaching, he would unquestionably 
be a priest just as much as if all the bishops and all 
the popes had ordained him. Hence it is that any 
one may baptize and absolve in case of necessity, 
which would not be permissible if all were not 
priests." 

The chairman and the lank member were in con- 
sultation. That the call from a congregation should 
make a man a minister seemed to be a thorn in their 
flesh. After all, it may be that a good bit of the 
priest gets on the inside before a clerical vest gets 
on the outside. But now the chairman looked up 
and said: 

"Brother Martin, if all have equal rights, what 
need of ministers at all?" 

"There must needs be ministers," Luther replied, 
a broad smile lighting his countenance, "for if the 
whole congregation would rush upon the babe to 
baptize it, they would probably drown it, as a thou- 
sand hands would be employed. This would never 
do." 

"I should say not," snapped the lean man. "But 
since all have the right, according to you, any one 
of them might go and do it. There is no warrant 
for depriving any one of his rights." 

"Since Christians have all things in common, as 



Brethren Bland and Otherwise 159 

we have pointed out and proved," replied Luther, 
"it could not be right for one to push himself for- 
ward and arrogate to himself what belongs to us all. 
Let him maintain this right and exercise it where 
there is no other person who has also received it. 
But the rights of the community demand that one, 
or as many as the congregation chooses, shall be 
elected and accepted to administer the office publicly 
and in the name and place of all those who have 
precisely the same rights." 

He spoke at some length in the same strain^ and 
concluded thus: 

"It is true that all Christians are priests, but they 
are not all pastors; for besides being a Christian and 
a priest, he must also have an office and a parish 
entrusted to him. The call and command make a 
pastor and preacher." 

"Brethren, you might as well close this colloquy," 
said my neighbor of the Shakespeare physiognomy. 
"This brother does not at all agree with us in the 
doctrine of the Ministerial Office. Besides, it is high 
time to adjourn." 

In fact, it was high time: the janitor was lighting 
the gas. 

"The committee is of quite the same opinion," the 
lean member remarked. "However, ' ' he added, turn- 
ing to Luther, "you averred that the call and com- 
mand make a pastor and preacher. What has ordi- 
nation, the act of the Representative Church, to do 
with it?" 



160 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

"He who is called is ordained and should preach to 
those who called him," said he. "This is our Lord's 
consecration and true chrism. ' ' 

"Why, then, the laying on of hands?" asked the 
little member. 

"The imposition of hands gives the benediction and 
confirms and bears testimony to this," answered 
Luther, "as a notary or witness testifies to a tem- 
poral matter." 

"Then," said the lank examiner, "you see no real 
necessity for action on the part of the Representative 
Church, and, so far as the divine realism of ordina- 
tion is concerned, you do not — " 

"Beg pardon," said the little man; "but I think it 
is too late to begin the discussion of a new phase 
of this subject. We understand the applicant's posi- 
tion: it is the transference theory carried out with 
more or less consistency." 

"With less," exclaimed a man in the audience. 
"Consistency would demand that they have ordi- 
nation executed by lay members in the congre- 
gation.* They don't do it, and they don't dare 
doit!" 

"And, my brother," said the chairman, ignoring 

*Excellent dissertations on these subjects by represen- 
tative General Council men are to be found in The 
Lutheran Pastor, p. 38 ff.; The First Gen- 
eral Council of Lutherans, p. 232 ff . ; and in 
The Lutheran Doctrine of the Ministry, a 
pamphlet, by the Rev. Dr. H. E. Jacobs. — Editor. 



Brethren Bland and Otherwise 161 

the last remark and bestowing a smile on the com- 
mittee's lean spokesman, "remember that we as 
committee just agreed to close the colloquy." 

He then rose, nodded to Luther and to the audi- 
ence, and said in a kind and deliberate manner: 

"Brethren, we have canvassed the whole field of 
theology and it has been pleasant and edifying 
withal. There have been some differences — there 
always are on such occasions — and we will give them 
due consideration before we frame our decision, 
which, I think, we shall be able to give the applicant 
to-morrow morning. So far as the so-called trans- 
ference theory of the Office of the Ministry is con- 
cerned, it is but fair to say that it was held by our 
theologians in the days of the Reformation, and since 
then, in Europe, by Schleiermacher, Hcefling, Harless, 
Thomasius, Palmer, Achelis, Luthardt and others, 
and, in this country, by Dr. Loy and the Ohio Synod, 
and Dr. Walther and the Missouri Synod. Hence, 
no matter whether a man holds the one view of this 
or the other, I regard him as a good Lutheran." 
Then, looking with a smile at Luther, he gave us a 
broad hint of the result: "I say this, Brother Mar- 
tin, that you may lose no sleep over these differences. 
Now, brethren, let us close. ' ' 

The audience rose and the kind-hearted sire raised 
his hand to pronounce the benediction. 

Luther stepped to the front and raised his hand 
as if to stay the proceedings. 

A tremor of excitement ran through the audi- 



162 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

ence. Feet moved and necks craned. The chairman 
dropped the hand raised to bless. 

"Is that nothing to you?" asked Luther emphatic- 
ally. "Is that nothing to you?" he repeated in a 
louder tone. " 'If they affirm, I affirm; if they deny, 
I deny'; — this, I say, is what your declarations 
amount to. You take the most diligent care on every 
occasion to be slippery and pliant of speech. Is that 
to act the part of a faithful theologian? My reso- 
lution is taken!" 

He started towards the door. There was whis- 
pering, moving of feet, excitement. The chairman 
raised his hand and called after him: 

"Stop! Let us explain." 
But Luther did not stop. A click of the door 
announced that he was gone. 

"Serves you right," said the big man with the 
close-cropped mustache. 

"What's the difference!" exclaimed the little 
examiner. 

"Nothing lost," declared the lank member. "We 
couldn't have consistently received him, anyhow. 
He 's got heretical views on the Office of the Min- 
istry. Saves us an unpleasant task. That 's all." 
Then the elderly man closed the meeting. 
With a different examining committee the result 
might have been different. The more is the pity. 



@©?S@®S0g?S?S@®^ 



@@s@®sa§^s@@@?© 



IX. AT THE BARBER'S 

Worth makes the man, and want of it the fellow, 
The rest is all but leather and prunello. — Pope. 




EXT!" said the barber, and Lu- 
ther took the chair. 

The colloquy had given me a 
feeling of touseled uncleanness 
and I hied me to the barber's. 
Luther must have felt dirtier, for 
he was there first. 
"Heavy beard," said the barber, 
deeming it wise to rub in a little flattery with the 
lather, "needs a good soaking." 

"Well lathered is half shaved," Luther replied, 
and, glancing at me, added, "and well prayed is half 
studied." 

Then he ran his hand over his stubbled cheek. 
"We take it off to-day and have a smooth face," he 
remarked. "By to-morrow it is grown again, and it 
will not cease growing while we live. Just so is 
original sin. It cannot be extirpated; but crops out 
so long as we live. Nevertheless we should resist it 
with all our might and cut it off without delay." 

I had to smile: Luther could gather a harvest of 
morals even from the stubbles of a beard. 

The barber was a talkative little man, but he was 
as careful with his tongue as he was with his razor. 
(163) 



164 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

If he cut a customer with either one, it was a slip. 
After a moment's lull he said: 

"Lots of rain we 've had of late." 
A man can always prime conversation's pump 
with the weather, especially if it is wet. 

"It usually rains where it was wet enough before," 
Luther replied. 

"Paper predicts rain for to-morrow," said a young 
lounger who wore loud clothes. "Guess I '11 not go 
to the city now. Wish I had the running of the 
weather for a spell. Bet I 'd be onto my job." 

Luther measured him with his eye. A rebuke 
must fit as nicely as a suit. Otherwise it is a reflec- 
tion on the maker. 

"When prosperity is ours, and all goes as our 
hearts desire, we grow very indolent and spoil, for 
good fortune makes fools of people," he began, 
turned his head to one side and eyed the company. 
It comprised the idler just mentioned, a moral 
scavenger known as an attorney, an effeminate dry- 
goods clerk, and the 'Squire. The latter was a 
rotund old man, who sat with his legs far apart and 
his hands over a red handkerchief on the head of his 
cane, wore a boiled shirt to support the dignity of 
his office, and spoke with the deliberation which 
befits judicial ermine even if it be thin and spotted 
with tobacco- juice. 

"If it should lie in our power to have things go 
according to our own sweet wills, nothing would 
come of it, anyhow," Luther continued. "We would 



At the Barber's 165 



fare like a certain farmer who would be wiser than 
the Lord. No matter what kind of weather God 
made, it did not please him. So he besought God 
to let him regulate the weather for the nonce accord- 
ing to his own judgment. And God granted his peti- 
tion. So the farmer began and did as he listed. As 
he willed it, so the rain fell and the sun shone. That 
was weather as fine as one could desire. The crops 
stood so well that he expected a year the like of 
which no man had seen. But at last, when he gath- 
ered in the harvest, he found nothing but empty 
ears and straw. Then it dawned upon him that he 
had forgotten — the wind!" 

The 'Squire chuckled and took a pinch of snuff. 

"It served him right," declared he; "no mortal 
can improve on God's way." 

"Nature's way, 'Squire, nature's, ' ' said the barrister 
by way of correction and for the sake of provocation. 
The argument which the infidel desired was soon 
on in full force. His sophistry and ridicule were at 
times too much for the dignified old 'Squire. I 
noticed that Luther grew more and more restless 
under the razor. 

"He imagines that he alone is wise and erudite," 
said he in an undertone to the barber: "mocks us 
as if we were geese." 

The attorney cast an aspersion upon the divinity 
of Christ. Instantly Luther sat up in the chair. 

"For very shame, brazen reason!" he exclaimed 
and ejected the lather from his lips. "How dare we 



166 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

wretched, beggarly mortals jabber about the char- 
acter of God's essence, without God's Word, de- 
pending entirely upon our own heads, when we do 
not even know how our own speech, laughter, or 
sleep is effected? Is it not blindness personified 
that a man who cannot explain even the most insig- 
nificant activity which he daily perceives in his own 
body, nevertheless insists that he understands that 
which is above and beyond all reason and of which 
God alone can speak, and dares insolently to blurt 
out, 'Jesus is not God!' " 

He had fired a broadside. In a few minutes the 
attorney found a reason for leaving. Nobody had 
anything to say. The room was so quiet that we 
could hear the buzzing of a belated bee which found 
itself imprisoned there. 

"Look out, it will sting you!" said the barber as 
the bee lit on Luther's finger. 

He observed it with evident interest as it crawled 
over his hand. 

"The bee is such a furious and impetuous little 
creature when it is angry," he remarked, "that it 
thrusts its stinger into its foe and leaves it there 
regardless of the fact that it will therefore lose its 
life or ever thereafter be unable to make honey. 
And so, on account of its wrath, it hath shamefully 
lost its sweet trade. Thus also are the enemies of 
Christ. So vengeful and hot-tempered are they 
that they would rather suffer ruin than not inflict 
injury." 



At the Barber's 167 



Again silence fell upon the company, and it grew 
oppressive. It seemed as if the evening's pleasure 
had been killed by the thunderbolt intended to purify 
the atmosphere, and as if no more fitting person 
could have appeared on the scene than the under- 
taker who had just entered. 

"Well," said he, as he seated himself opposite 
the 'Squire, "we buried Big Mike McCarty this 
afternoon." 

"I 'm sorry he 's gone," said the 'Squire pensively. 
"He was a true son of the Emerald Isle, bulls and 
all." 

Then his honor grew reminiscent. 

"Once Big Mike was standing on the edge of a 
railroad fill, bossing the job," said he. "A green 
Irishman came along pushing a car of dirt and 
struck Mike. Down over the embankment he went — 
clean down to the bottom. The frightened work- 
man shouted down through his hands: 'Ahoy, me 
boss, is ye hurrt? is ye hurrt bad?' There was noth- 
ing but a groan for answer. 'Is ye hurrt? is ye hurrt 
bad?' 'Shet up, you blasted fool,' yelled Mike; 'it 's 
killed dead and a corpse that I am.' " 

The little company, including Luther, laughed and 
the sombre spell was broken. 

"I know a better one on Big Mike than that," said 
the barber, soaking his sponge. "Say, Jack, suppose 
you start the phonograph for the reverend. Put in 
a song." 
12 



168 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

When it began to talk and sing, Luther looked 
amazed. 

"What is now taking place in the world seems most 
marvelous to me, ' ' said he, shaking his head. ' ' Either 
I never yet saw the world, or a new world comes into 
being while I sleep.' ' Then he wished St. Paul had 
preached into a thing like that. 

"As I was about to say," began the barber, resum- 
ing his work, "Big Mike — " 

"I appeal to the reverend," a voice interrupted: 
"aren't gamblers thieves?" 

The clerk had put the question. He and the fast 
young man were having a verbal bout. 

"And now it is asked," said our good father, 
"whether gamblers are thieves? It is obvious that 
gamesters who play for stakes commit sin. They 
covet the possessions of others, and are thus thieves 
in the eyes of God. No one — " 

"That 's plain," nodded the 'Squire, "very plain." 

"No one plays with another for the purpose of giv- 
ing him property, for he could convey it without 
gaming. Again, he does not play because he wants 
to lose, or because he seeks the welfare of another 
as he seeks his own. Thus gambling is always 
against love and always grows out of greed, for 
a gambler seeks his own profit at another's 
expense. ' ' 

"Well, as I was going to say," the barber began 
again, "when Big Mike was paving Washington 
Street, green hands made him a lot of trouble. He 



* At the Barber's l i 169 

came upon one who was making a big mess of things. 
He gazed at him a moment and shook his head in 
despair. 'Yon bloomin' idiot,' said Mike in a tone of 
utter disgust, 'I 've larned ye everything I know, an' 
still ye don't know anything!' " 

Luther laughed till he held his sides.* 

"It also pleases God when you address a brother 
with a smile," said he, "or now and then crack a 
decent and witty joke. God is a foe of all 
gloominess." 

"I '11 wager Big Mike's widow will marry before 
a year rolls round," said the undertaker. "Never 
saw it miss: women who wail so when they put one 
man in the hearse soon find another for the house.' 1 * 

"Perfectly natural, perfectly natural, and easily 
explained on psychological grounds," asserted the 
'Squire with an air of learning. 

"Bosh!" interjected the young man in the loud 
clothes, tossing a Police Gazette on the stand 
and moving towards the door. " 'Frailty, thy name 
is woman!' " 

Instantly the clerk got into a wrangle with him 
on the subject of women. The others talked town 
topics. Luther heard snatches of the wrangle, and 
his frank countenance, like the face of a barometer, 
announced the storm that was brewing. But when 



*This anecdote is especially commended to those pro- 
fessors who find fault with preachers. They "larned" us 
everything they know, and still we don't know anything ! 



170 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

he stepped from the chair the lecherous fellow was 
gone, and Luther said: 

"The man who sets light by preachers and women 
will never come to a good end. To despise them is 
to despise God and man." 

He glanced at his hands and started for the 
wash-stand. 

"Therefore, when you see a hog poking its snout 
in filth, think of such a swinish blackguard. Let 
them know that they are after all but despisers of 
the sex." 

He began to lave his hands, but was so much 
aroused that he kept on talking. 

"Even though wives and maids have flaws and 
faults, yet one should not publicly decry them with 
tongue or pen. A pious woman is to be honored and 
loved, first, because she is God's gift, and then be- 
cause God has bestowed upon woman glorious vir- 
tues which greatly outweigh trivial shortcomings. 
My, how dirty the water becomes from washing with 
it! Sooth, I forgot that skin and flesh are taken out 
of the ground, as the Scriptures say. Thou art dust 
and ashes: why so proud, man!" 

Drying his hands, he returned to the former 
subject. 

"A wife is the best treasure, for she is given by 
God, has many virtues and keeps troth. No one 
will ever have to repent rising early and marrying 
young. When Eve was brought to Adam he was 
filled with the Holy Ghost and gave her the most 



At the Barber's 171 



beautiful and glorious of names, calling her Eva, 
that is, mother of all living. This is woman's glory 
and her most precious ornament. She is fons 
omnium viventium, the source of all human 
life, a brief phrase, but such as neither Demosthenes 
nor Cicero could have coined." As he seated himself, 
he added: "My hostess at Eisenach said well, when 
I was a student there, 'There is no sweeter pleasure 
on earth than to be loved by a good woman.' " 

"Yes," said the 'Squire, nodding approval, "a good, 
woman is a precious pearl, and an obedient woman 
is beyond price." 
The barber smiled. 

"Isn't it Solomon," he queried, "who asks where 
such a woman can be found?" 

"Were I to make love again," said Luther, "I 'd 
have me an obedient wife carved out of stone." 
Then he laughed and added: "I would despair of 
getting one in any other way." 

He picked up the evening paper, for he had prom- 
ised to wait for me. I could see his face in the mir- 
ror. It was a study, as his eyes ran from one 
account to another of crime, war and bloodshed. He 
cast the paper aside shortly with the remark: 

"The world is the devil's tavern. Hence, whither- 
soever one goes, he finds the host at home." 

He got up, and, with hands behind his back, 
started to pace the floor. He was a nervous body 
and could never sit long unemployed. 

"We are wretched children of Adam," he observed, 



172 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

"for though death trudges at our heels every mo- 
ment on land, we seek it also on water." 

Our fleet was still in Cuban waters and the papers 
were still sounding the praises of Dewey and Hobson 

"The Spaniards deserved this trouncing," said the 
undertaker: "they are the most inhuman butchers 
among civilized nations." 

"The French are wanton," said Luther, taking up 
the cudgel, "but the Spaniards are altogether un- 
manageable, and exceed the Italians and French in 
all wickedness. No nation can tolerate them. They 
are more cruel than the Turks." 

Now the 'Squire, the clerk, the undertaker, the 
barber, all talked war, and it was evident they took 
pleasure in it. Luther dissented. 

"War is one of the greatest plagues that can 
afflict humanity," he declared; "it destroys reli- 
gion, it destroys states, it destroys families. In 
comparison with it famine and pestilence become as 
nothing. ' ' 

"There 's been great improvement in guns," said 
the 'Squire, "since I was at the front in sixty-three. 
There will be no more long wars." 

"Cannon and firearms are cruel and destructive 
machines," countered Luther. "I believe them to 
have been the direct suggestion of the devil. Against 
the flying ball no valor avails: the soldier is dead ere 
he sees the means of his destruction." 

The old soldier in the 'Squire attempted a de- 
fence, but it was half-hearted at most. 



At the Barber's 173 



"I believe this war will be a good thing for our 
country after all," the barber declared. 

"Yes," said the undertaker, "if our government 
decides to hold the Philippine Islands, the Far East 
will open to our commerce." 

"War is like a net woven of gold," said Luther 
sententiously: "if you catch fish with it, you are 
nothing ahead." 

But he agreed with them when they discussed the 
soldier's belief in the righteousness of his cause and 
its relation to victory. 

"It does not depend on having a large army and 
expensive weapons," said he, "but on a good cause. 
The cause of a war robs a soldier of valor, or gives 
him heart and courage. But — ' ' 

"This Spanish- American war," interpolated the 
'Squire, "has demonstrated that once more." 

"But do let us be instant in our prayer against 
war," said Luther in conclusion. 

It was but a step from the discussion of the bar- 
barity of Spanish rule to the discussion of the illit- 
eracy of her island subjects, and but another to the 
general subject of education. I was surprised at 
Luther's advanced modern ideas. 

"If the government can compel such citizens as are 
fit for military service to bear spear and musket, to 
mount ramparts and perform other martial duties 
in time of war," said he, "how much more has it 
the right to compel the people to send their children 
to school, because in this case we are warring with 



174 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

the devil, whose object it is secretly to exhaust 
our cities and principalities of their strong men — 
to destroy the kernel and leave a shell of helpless 
and ignorant people." 

I was ready to go. But ere we stepped out, Lu- 
ther turned and said: 

"I maintain that the civil authorities are under 
obligation to compel the people to send their chil- 
dren to school." 

As we walked down the street, I informed him 
that public education is entirely secular and that our 
high schools and universities are rationalistic and 
worse. He looked amazed. 

"Where the Holy Scriptures are not the rule, I 
advise no man to send his child," said he. "Every- 
thing must perish where God's Word is not taught 
unceasingly. So we see what manner of men there 
are in the universities." 

He then spoke of the Iowa Synod, to which he 
meant to apply next. But little was said, for, in 
crossing the street, we ran into two men who hap- 
pened to know us. They were the Dunkard preach- 
ers we had met in Virginia. As they were going 
three-quarters of a mile beyond the farmhouse where 
we were staying, we fared on together. 

Since our former clash they had time to think 
and were now primed. 

"It seems to us," began the larger brother, "that 
you Lutherians don't obey the Lord where He says, 
Book of Matthew, chapter ten, verse eight: 'Freely 



At the Barber's 175 



ye have received, freely give.' You people take lucre 
for your services." 

"We are commanded to teach, comfort and absolve 
all who will accept and believe," Luther replied, 
"and they all receive from us such treasures free, 
according to the passage, Matthew ten, eight. But 
as Christians enjoy the office of the ministry with- 
out pay, so they, on the other hand, should also 
entertain, support and protect the ministers without 
pay, as St. Paul says in Galatians six, six, and in 
First Timothy, five, eighteen. And Christ himself 
says in the tenth verse of the tenth chapter of St. 
Matthew: 'The workman is worthy of his meat.' " 

"But the servants of the Lord Jesus," said the 
smaller Dunkard, "must not take pay for the divine 
treasures." 

"Who could pay for these?" replied Luther, scru- 
tinizing the man in the moonlight. "What are a 
hundred or a thousand guilders in comparison with 
the immeasurable gift of the forgiveness of sins? 
But inasmuch as such great gift cannot be dispensed 
but by human beings, who must have sustenance, 
they as a matter of course must be sustained and 
supported. But that is no payment for the gift, but 
is for their trouble and work." 

Then the larger brother of the unmarred beard 
abruptly changed the subject. 

"Your communion baptizes little babies," said he 
in his unctious drawl. "Our brethren baptize believ- 
ers only, even as Holy Writ says: 'He that believeth 



176 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

and is baptized shall be saved.' They baptize believ- 
ers and nobody else." 

"How and when are they ever going" to be certain 
of that?" Luther asked. "Are they now become 
gods that they can look into people's hearts and see 
whether they believe or not?" 

"But they confess their faith, and so we — " 

"Yes, you say they confess they believe, and so 
forth," he rejoined. "My dear sir, that is neither 
here nor there. The text does not say, he that 
confesseth, but he that believeth. To be 
sure, you have his confession; and yet for all that 
you have no certainty of his faith; and so, accord- 
ing to your own interpretation of this passage, you 
cannot meet its demands." 

"Howsumever, the brethren teach that babies can- 
not believe," said the Dunkard, "the which is very 
plain, for they can't talk, neither kin they know." 

"Where is the Scripture with which they prove 
it?" Luther asked. "They imagine it so, because the 
infants do not talk and reason; but their conclusion 
is unstable, yea, altogether false. But we have the 
Scriptures for it that babes can and do believe, 
though they have neither speech nor reason. Thus 
the Scriptures say, Psalm One Hundred and Six, 
verses thirty-seven and thirty-eight, that the Jews 
sacrificed their sons and daughters to idols, and so 
'shed innocent blood.' If it was innocent blood, as 
the text says, they were certainly pure and holy 
children, which they could not be without the Spirit 



At the Barber's 177 



and faith. Likewise, the innocent children who 
were slain at Herod's behest were not over two years 
old, and, as a matter of course, were without speech 
and reason, and yet they are holy and saved. And 
in the fourteenth verse of the nineteenth chapter of 
St. Matthew, Christ says the kingdom of heaven is 
the children's. St. John was a babe, and I should 
think he could believe." 

"The case of John the Baptist was out of the com- 
mon run," the smaller Dunkard retorted. "That 's 
far from proving that all the little young ones kin 
believe." 

"Just be patient and contain yourself a bit," an- 
swered Luther as he came to a standstill. "I have 
not yet come to the point where I prove the faith of 
children; but only so far as to show that your Ana- 
baptist reasons are false and untenable and cannot 
prove, that faith cannot be in children. For, since 
faith was in John without speech and reason, you 
cannot maintain your ground when you say children 
cannot believe. Now it is not against Scripture to 
say an infant can believe, as the example of St. John 
shows. Now if this, that children can believe, be not 
against Scripture, but in harmony with it, then your 
assertion that children cannot believe must be 
against Scripture. That is what I wanted to say 
first." 

"It is a beautiful night," said the big Dunkard. 

"The Lord is good," added the smaller one, "and 
His mercy endureth forever." 



178 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

"Night unto night uttereth speech and the heavens 
declare His — " 

"Now who made you so certain that baptized chil- 
dren do not believe, although I here prove that they 
can believe?" asked Luther, refusing to be turned 
from the subject. "But if you are not certain, then 
why are you so precipitous in nullifying the first 
baptism, when you do not know, and cannot know, 
that it is void? What if all children could not only 
believe at baptism, but believe just as John did from 
his mother's womb? For we cannot deny that the 
same Christ who came to John before his birth is 
with and in baptism. Since He himself is present 
and speaks and baptizes, why should not faith and 
the Spirit come to the child through His speaking 
and baptizing, as well as it came there to John? And 
that especially since He says through Isaiah that His 
Word shall not return to Him void. Furthermore, 
He commands us to bring the little children to Him, 
Matthew nineteen, fondles and kisses them, and says 
the kingdom of God is theirs. Now cite a single 
Scripture passage which proves a baptized child can- 
not believe, since I have adduced so many which 
show that they can believe and that it is but right 
to hold that they do, although it is unknown to us 
how they believe. Nor is that of much importance. ' ' 

"Howsumever," said the smaller Dunkard, "your 
communion teaches that unbaptized babies — " 

"No one," broke in the other, "who was sprinkled 
as a baby knows for certain that he was baptized. 



At the Barber's 179 



He has somebody's word for it; but we are not to 
believe man, but God. Therefore it is right to bap- 
tize them over." 

Luther laughed outright. 

"That strikes me as a shaky and rotten founda- 
tion, ' ' said he; "for should I reject all which I myself 
have not seen or heard, I would certainly not retain 
much either of faith or love, of things spiritual or 
earthly. So I might say: My dear friend, how do I 
know this man is my father and this woman my 
mother? You dare not believe men, but must be cer- 
tain of your parentage yourself. With that all chil- 
dren would forever be free and would no longer need 
to obey God's command when He says: 'Honor thy 
father and thy mother,' for I would forthwith say: 
How do I know who my father and mother are? I 
do not believe men. Likewise I would not acknowl- 
edge brother, sister, uncle, nor a single relative, but 
would constantly aver that I do not know they are 
related to me because I am uncertain of my parent- 
age. But were I ruler of the land, I would serve a 
spirit like that in the same way and forbid that he 
receive any inheritance from his parents, neither 
house nor home, nor even a single penny, and thus 
play against him his own 'belief until his 'spirit' 
again became flesh." 

"And so," said I, "like a blind Samson, you might 
pull down the whole structure." 

"Yes," he replied, "I would also say, the Scrip- 
tures are naught, Christ is naught, apostles never 



180 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

preached; for all that was neither seen nor felt by 
me, but I heard it from human beings. Conse- 
quently I would not believe it unless it were all done 
anew before my eyes. Then should I be a real free 
fellow indeed — free also from all of God's command- 
ments. 'Aha! that 's the place I should like to reach,' 
chuckles the devil, 'if only I could!' That means 
laying a foundation for rebaptizing which leaves 
nothing firm in heaven or on earth." 

Ignoring the argument, the younger Dunkard now 
said what he had kept in mind all this time. 

"Howsumever," he drawled, "your communion 
teaches that unbaptized young ones are lost." 

"God has not revealed to us how He will deal with 
babes who have not been baptized," Luther replied, 
"but has kept that under the covert of His mercy, 
and commanded us to insist urgently in public on 
the use of Word and Sacraments. And we should 
let it rest at that: He is not unjust." 

We crossed the road. It was muddy, and we 
walked single file. 
"There is a work devil among them," said Luther 
in an undertone to me, "who speaks of faith and still 
means work, and under the guise of faith leads the 
poor masses to trust in works. ' ' 

This observation probably touches the very heart 
of this controversy. To our opponents, baptism is 
not so much an act which God performs, as a work 
which the person baptized does. 

But no sooner had we crossed the highway, than 



At the Barber's 181 



the elder Dunkard broached another subject. I wish 
he had stuck to baptism. 

"It is one of the glories of our church," said he, 
"that we wash feet. You Lutherians don't. Herein 
our brethren, in the midst of this wicked and per- 
verse generation, mind the words of the Lord Jesus 
and in true humility — " 

"Why, my dear fellow," said Luther, "tell me what 
kind of humility it is if you seek applause and the 
reputation of saintliness by this act? or what doth 
it avail your brother if you wash his feet to make 
a display and gain glory in the eyes of the world? 
The Pope, his monks and priests, also kings and 
princes, now and then observe the custom of wash- 
ing the feet of some paupers; but there is no sign of 
humility discernable in the performance of this cere- 
mony. There are many among them, and that, too, 
the more honest ones, who wash the feet of their 
brothers of the order, or of their subjects, with so 
little of the spirit of humility that they afterwards 
seek forgiveness in the confessional for the pride 
which dwelt in their hearts during the execution of 
this work. It is evident that by His action in the 
Gospel our Lord did not intend to teach us the out- 
ward washing of feet, which is done by means of 
water; for then it would be obligatory to wash the 
feet of all, or rather, which certainly would be more 
serviceable, to prepare for the people a regular bath 
in which they could wash their whole body. This, 
of course, cannot be the meaning of Christ's com- 



182 Little Journeys with Martin Luther 

mand in this connection. By His example He simply 
gave us a striking lesson in humility. ' ' 

"But the ordinance of foot- washing must always be 
observed before the Lord's Supper is celebrated," 
said our recusant, "for that is the way the Lord 
Jesus did it." 

Luther's patience was clean gone. 

"If this is to hold," he replied, "that we are to fol- 
low the actions of Christ in that mechanical way, and 
not the Word, the consequence will be that we dare 
only celebrate the Lord's Supper in a plastered upper 
chamber in Jerusalem. For if the outward circum- 
stances must be observed so minutely, the externali- 
ties of person and place must also be observed 
strictly, and it would come to this that this sacra- 
ment was only to be celebrated by the disciples to 
whom He then gave it. And then what St. Paul says 
in the eleventh chapter of First Corinthians will 
become Simon-pure folly. Likewise, because we do 
not know, and the text does not say, whether it was 
red or white wine, whether it was wheat or barley 
bread, we, enveloped in this darkness, shall have to 
leave the Lord's Supper uncelebrated until we arrive 
at such certainty that we vary not a hairbreadth 
from Christ's manner in any external thing. For if 
we miss it in this, the fanatic is at hand and brays 
that we hang, murder and crucify Christ. Such an 
excellent thing is here, and so completely is salvation 
entrenched here — much more than in Christ's 
wounds, blood, Word or Spirit!" 



At the Barber's 183 



We had reached the gate of the farm where Lu- 
ther was staying. Perhaps it was well, for Luther 
was aroused, and it is doubtful if these sectaries 
were capable of learning aught. After the evening's 
rain, the air came fresh and fragrant over the ex- 
panse of meadow, and the foliage glistened in the 
mellow light of the full-orbed moon, which stood on 
the distant mountain peak. 

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith 
Christ hath made us free," said Luther, as a parting 
word, "and be not entangled again with the yoke of 
bondage. Faith is the substance of things hoped 
for, the evidence of things not seen." 

"Faith, ah yes, it is power," drawled the larger 
Dunkard. "Do you know, I have faith so I could 
remove that there mountain?" 

"Then, why don't you move it?" said I. 

"Because I wouldn't know where to put it." 
We laughed, and the brethren went their way. 

"Oh, what wise people," sighed Luther; "they 
should be set to hatching goose eggs!" 




13 



®®®@®£S0S@§5SS*§) 



X. THE POPE GETS A PELTING 

'Tis some relief that points not clearly known 
Without much hazard may be let alone. — Dryden. 




UTHER insisted on walking from 
the Iowa farmhouse to the town, 
and to this day I have reason to 
rue that I yielded to him. It was 
a frosty autumnal morning. As 
we strode along, I ventured to say 
it would have been better to ride, 
and so conform somewhat to his 
physician's advice. 

"Sooth," said he, "to live according to doctors' 
rules would be a sorry sort of life indeed. As for 
me, I eat what I relish and— suffer what I must." 

"But the medical profession has made great prog- 
ress along the line of prevention," said I. "For 
instance, we know to a certainty that flies carry dis- 
eases and are veritable pests." 
"I detest flies and am at war with them," said he, 
"for they are the image of devils and heretics." 

Then he launched out against the odoriferous 
Papacy, whither the flies naturally led. 

"Yea, the superstition eventually grew so strong," 
said he, coming back to the subject, "that some 
would not kill even lice and fleas. I saw a priest who 
thought he did God a service by protecting these 
pests. He never cleaned his clothes; and, to tell 
(184) 



The Pope Gets a Pelting 185 

truth, he put the lice which fell from him back into 
his cowl. The reason he assigned for being so filthy 
was that he knew his parents were also being de- 
voured by maggots in their graves.* But God has not 
commanded us to destroy the body, but wills that 
we respect it, although it must be curbed and kept 
under control." 

He returned to physicians and kindred topics. 
Many of his comments struck me as pithy and 
pointed. For instance, this against Christian Scien- 
tists: "God hath compounded medicines of the earth 
and no sensible man despises them." Yet he held the 
mind has a decided influence over the body. "When 
the mind is tortured and burdened," said he, "phys- 
ical illness follows." And again: "Much depends 
upon the confidence the patient reposes in the phy- 
sician." He praised the profession. "A learned and 
prudent physician is a great gift of God; but," he 
added with a twinkle, "a young leech must needs 
have a new graveyard." 

*So the unlettered priest. But such filthiness really 
had a different ground. When monks were laying out 
the body of Archbishop Thomas a Becket, afterwards 
called St. Thomas of Canterbury, they found his hair- 
cloth undergarments literally alive with vermin — boiling 
over with them, as one ancient account describes it, like 
water in a simmering caldron. Seeing this, the monks 
proceeded no further with the work, declaring that a 
corpse, as holy as they perceived this one to be, needed 
no washing. This is a fair sample of genuine, old-time 
papal piety. — Editor. 



186 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

We were overtaken by a country justice of the 
peace, who looked like the traditional Uncle Sam. 
His weakness was poetry, and he seemed to know 
almost everything that is quoteworthy. We met him 
again a few days later, and learned to know him bet- 
ter. But now the spirit was upon him and he hailed 
us thus: 

"What miracle of wierd transforming 

Is this wild work of frost and light, 

This glimpse of glory infinite!" 

But in the next breath he was going on all fours, 
talking of paunch and purse. 

"Twill be an uncommon cold winter," he declared. 
"The hornets' nests are built low and the corn-husks 
are right smart thicker than common. I look for a 
powerful hard winter according to the signs." 

"So be it," responded Luther. "Let it snow and 
freeze hard as it will, summer will come again, for 
God will not let it snow and freeze forever. ' ' 

He gazed at the frost-covered field, and that far- 
away look came to his eyes. 

"Winter and frost are hard to stand, but — " said 
he, throwing in one of those little, effective breaks of 
his, "but that you may see how you can bear it and 
not perish, God hath placed symbols in this selfsame 
snow, frost and ice to give you heart, for they teach 
something far different from what they threaten. 
For, behold, does not the snow look like fleece? Thus 
God would as much as say: the snow shall not kill 
thee. Nay, it suggests wool to you, and wool and 



The Pope Gets a Pelting 187 

warmth you shall have. Neither shall the frost slay 
thee. Nay, it reminds you of ashes and awakens 
thoughts of the hearth fire, that you may remember 
there is fuel to withstand the Frost King. Neither 
shall the hailstones fell thee. Behold, they suggest 
crumbs, by which you may be reminded that, though 
nothing grows during the winter, you shall neverthe- 
less not starve." He paused for a moment, and then 
repeated the word of the Psalm he had in mind: "He 
giveth snow like wool: He scattereth the hoarfrost 
like ashes. He casteth forth His ice like morsels." 
"Verily," he commented, "he speaketh right com- 
fortably, and would teach us to know the cold season 
aright, that we may love and thank God even for 
winter itself . " 

For a while we were silent, like pious and well- 
behaved people who have heard a sermon and are 
leaving the sanctuary, that is to say, like pious and 
well-behaved people who died before the era of jab- 
bering in the holy place began.* 

Some young chaps were hauling in corn. Across 

*I much fear the talk at country church doors is like 
that mentioned by Cowper in his Tithing-Time in 
Essex: 

"One talks of mildew and of frost, 
And one of storms and hail, 
And one of pigs that he has lost 
By maggots at the tail." 
And the talk at city church doors is probably not a whit 
better. Brothers (and sisters), these things ought not 
so to be. 



188 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

the fields came their peals of laughter and snatches 
of merry song". 

1 ' 'Tis a very seemly and wholesome happiness," Lu- 
ther remarked, "when we rejoice that the fields have 
yielded good and plentiful returns, for then we are 
happy because God has given us so much. Our Lord 
God is gladly willing that we eat, drink, be merry and 
make use of all His creatures, for that is why He 
created them. ' ' 

"But the pleasure has well-nigh all seeped out o' 
farming," said the 'Squire, back on all fours. "The 
farmers git so little for their stuff." 

"The more we have, the more we want," said 
Luther curtly. 

"But 'taint the farmers that git it." 

"If farmers appreciated their blessings they would 
be in paradise," Luther declared, misunderstanding 
or ignoring the 'Squire's statement. "No one is con- 
tent with his lot. 'The ox envies the horse, the horse 
the ox.'" 

"But it 's the jobbers and the cold storage men that 
hold stuff and git the high prices," he explained. 

"Yes, and the poor have to suffer for it, ' ' said I. "I 
know not how these so-called Christians can face the 
judgment day." 

"On that day Christ will say: 'I was a hungered, 
and ye gave me no meat,' " Luther replied. "A man 
who has given himself to the riches and honors of 
this world, and thereby forgotten his soul and his 
God, is like a little child that clasps in its hand an 



The Pope Gets a Pelting 189 

apple of fine shape and color under the impression 
that it has something good, though the apple is rot- 
ten within and teeming with worms." 
"You are right, perfectly right," interjected the 
'Squire. "It is so: 

'Extol not riches, then, the toil of fools, 

The wise man's cumbrance, if not snare; more apt 

To slacken virtue, and abate her edge, 

Than prompt her to do aught may merit praise.' " 

"We should use the possessions God has given us," 
concluded Luther, "as a shoemaker uses his needle, 
awl and wax-end to work with, and then lays them 
aside; or, as a guest uses an inn only for temporary 
purposes. ' ' 

We trudged on for a time in silence. Then Luther 
adverted again to husbandmen. 

"The pastor at Holsdorf," said he, "would not 
admit his farmers to the Lord's Supper. The farm- 
ers lodged complaint with the Visitors. The pastor 
said in defence: 'My dear sirs, I concede I did not 
allow them to come to the Lord's Table because they 
do not pray.' Thereupon one of the farmers jumped 
up and said: 'We don't have to pray. That 's why 
we keep you and pay you wages!' " 

"In the eyes of parsons," said the 'Squire with a 
smile, "clodhoppers are a coarse set, sure. 

'Oh why were farmers made so coarse, 

Or clergy made so fine? 
A kick that scarce would move a horse, 

May kill a sound divine.' " 



190 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

"That," said Luther, half in jest, half in earnest, 
"is wise, and it is fitly spoken." 

Our companion turned into his neighbor's lane, 
and we went the rest of the way alone. 

Just as we entered the town, I stepped sidewise 
on a pebble and wrenched my right knee — an acci- 
dent, by the way, which often befalls me. After 
assisting me to the hotel and calling a physician, 
Luther went to the church. 

My feelings were hurt quite as much as my limb. 
We might just as well have gone to town in a car- 
riage; but Luther must needs have his own way, 
always have his own way, and now I must miss the 
Iowa Synod colloquy, which I had set my heart on 
hearing; for I was very anxious to hear the subject 
of Open Questions discussed. So I lay on the couch 
and chaffed till he returned at noon, when, so soon 
as his nose was through the door, I asked: 

"How did things go? What of the doctrine of 
Church and Office? What of— " 

"They do not want to admit that they have erred 
in a single syllable," he answered rather petulantly, 
sat down at the table and began to write. 

"But," said I somewhat later, "it looks to me as 
if a lot of these differences between synods are noth- 
ing more than a different way of saying the same 
thing." 

"I know we should not fall out on account of words 
and phrases, if definition and conviction are not at 
loggerheads," said he, somewhat impatiently and 



The Pope Gets a Pelting 191 

without looking up. "Every bird pipes just as its 
throat is fashioned and every language has its own 
way of saying these things." 

It was plain: things had not glided along 
smoothly. But I wanted to know more, and, after 
biding my time, ventured further: 

"How about the matter of Open Questions? Did 
you get to — " 

"Everything stands open," he interjected; "but — 
it dare not come to this that you touch the sore." 

So they had come to this subject, for it is only in 
this sphere that "everything" stands open in the 
Iowa Synod. Now, as a matter of course, there are 
open questions. Everything is not settled.* In this 
respect a man's orthodoxy depends upon what he 
relegates to this domain and — on who sits in judg- 
ment on him! 

"Nevertheless," said I, "they are shrewd theo- 
logians and know how to defend their position." 

"It 's more like the quarreling of women and chil- 
dren," he retorted quickly. "It is so! It is not so! 
Yea, nay! Nay, yea! And still they are such shrewd 
theologians in this!" 

This outburst of sarcasm did not surprise me. 
Where men agree that certain questions are open, 
there is not only diversity of opinion on those ques- 



*For example, Did Adam have a navel? But — hands 
off, lest, after we have settled everything else, this thing 
become firdjentrettncnb. 



192 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 



tions, but contradictory beliefs are expressed and 
defended. Thus the greatest discord dwells in sweet- 
est concord or utter indifference — just as you are 
minded to phrase it. The whole thing makes the 
impression of slipperiness so soon as it touches a 
matter of real moment, and its defenders then look 
like men bent on maintaining loopholes. You can 
easily imagine how it affected Luther when it was 
applied to such matters as the doctrines of the Anti- 
christ and the Millennium, for that is what he meant 
by "the sore." For now he rose, scanned what he 
had written, smiled as if well pleased with it, then 
folded the sheet and tossed it to me, saying: 

"Those who were not under the Papacy think teach- 
ing and warning against the Antichrist to be quite 
unnecessary; but those who were stuck fast in the 
mire of Papacy are the ones who deem it necessary 
that the youth be diligently reminded of it. ' ' 

Then, expressing himself as pleased with the con- 
dition of my limb, he was off, saying, as he closed 
the door: 

"Farewell, and pray for me." 
I unfolded the sheet. It proved to be a curious 
and an interesting document, reading as follows: 

THE BOOK OF THE GENERATION OF THE ABOMINATION OF 

DESOLATION, THE ANTICHRIST, THE SON OF 

HYPOCRISY, THE SON OF THE DEVIL. 



THE devil begat Darkness; 
Darkness begat Ignorance; 
Ignorance begat Error and 
his brethren; 
Error begat Free 'Will and Pre- 
sumption out of self-conceit; 



Free Will begat Merit; 

Merit begat Forgetfnlness of 
Grace; 

Forg-etfulness begat Transgres- 
sion; 

Transgression begat Unbelief; 



The Pope Gets a Pelting 



193 



Pomp begat Ambition; 

Ambition begat Simony; 

Simony begat the Pope and bis 
brethren, the Cardinals, about the 
time of the Babylonian Captivity; 

After the Babylonian Captiv- 
ity, the Pope begat the Mystery 
of Iniquity; 

The Mystery of Iniquity begat 
Sophistical Theology; 

Sophistical Theology begat Re- 
jection of the Scriptures; 

Rejection of the Scriptures be- 
gat Tyranny. 

Tyranny begat Slaughter of 
Saints; 

Slaughter of Saints begat Dis- 
dain of God; 

Disdain of God begat Dispen- 
sation; 

Dispensation begat Wilful Sin; 

Wilful Sin begat Abomination; 

Abomination begat Desolation; 

Desolation begat Anguish; 

Anguish begat Questioning; 



Unbelief begat Satisfaction; 

Satisfaction uegat Mass-offer- 
ing; 

Mass-offering begat Priests out 
of the smear or chrism; 

The Priest out of chrism begat 
Superstition and Bigotry; 

Bigotry begat Hypocrisy, the 
king; 

Hypocrisy begat Traffic in sac- 
rifice ; 

Traffic and Profit begat Purga- 
tory; 

Purgatory begat the founding 
of yearly Solemn Vigils; 

Vigils begat Church-livings; 

Church-livings begat Mammon; 

Mammon begat Swelling Super- 
fluity; 

Swelling Superfluity begat Full- 
ness; 

Fullness begat Madness; 

Madness begat Wilfulness; 

Wilfulness begat Rule and 
Dominion; 

Rule and Dominion begat Pomp; 

Questioning begat Searching out the Ground of Truth by which is 

revealed the Destroyer of the Pope, who is called the 

Antichrist. 

It was evident that Luther was wrought up. I 
itched to hear him, and ere long hobbled over to the 
church. 

"I deplore that I am unfortunately much too 
hasty," a voice was saying as I approached the 
steps. ' ' But I wish I could utter nothing but thunder- 
bolts against the Papacy." It was Luther's voice. 

What the others said was not distinguishable 
above the din, but I heard Luther reply: 
"I will endeavor to speak with more propriety." 

On entering, I found three ministers at a table in 
front, Luther pacing back and forth, and eighteen or 



194 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

twenty men occupying pews. The examiners proved 
to be mild-eyed, mild-voiced, and mild-mannered 
men. 

"What is up now?" I asked a youthful divine at 
my elbow. 

"Second Thessalonians, two, one to twelve," he 
whispered. "Ach, I am afraid he is an out and out 
Missourianer. ' ' 

"Now we say the Pope is not the Antichrist," said 
the smallest man at the table, stroking his mutton- 
chops, "and — " 

"I say," thundered Luther, "he is the adversary 
of the Lord and the apostle of the devil." 

"But you agree, don't you," asked the little man 
kindly, "that the apostle here speaks of the 
Antichrist?" 

"Yes," replied Luther, "Paul exposes the knave 
thoroughly, fore and aft, that we may see through 
his lies and — " 

"But the apostle says here clearly that the expo- 
sure of the Antichrist is a sign of Christ's second 
advent. Hence the Papacy cannot be the Anti- 
christ, for it is a long time since the character of 
the Papacy was revealed and yet the day of the 
parusie has not been ushered in. How do you 
harmonize this?" 

"One day is with the Lord as a thousand 
years," he replied, "and a thousand years as one 
day." 

"Didn't I tell you?" said my young neighbor. 



The Pope Gets a Pelting 195 

" A c h, it is sad that so fine a mentality is warped by 
the errors of Missouri." 

He said it in that mild tone they all were employ- 
ing. I made no reply. The thing was getting on 
my nerves, and I wondered if this matter of Open 
Questions did not have something to do with their 
quality of voice, for the everlasting defence of the 
Open Question proposition involves an everlasting 
apology. And an apology is meekness itself. 

The members of the examining committee were 
evidently of the same mind as my neighbor, for, 
after putting their heads together, the elderly 
brother said: 

"Brother Martin, in their controversy with the 
sainted Schieferdecker, the Missourians insisted that 
the judgment day might come at any time, averring 
that all the signs, except the very immediate ones, 
had come to pass. And to make matters worse, they 
were bent on inflating this to the proportions of an 
article of faith. Surely, Brother Martin, you are not 
of that opinion, are you?" 

"I assuredly hold," replied Luther, "that the day 
of the Lord is near, and that either we or our de- 
scendants will live to see it. All the great signs have 
now come to pass: the Antichrist is revealed and the 
world runs wild. And 'twill be no better in the 
world ere doomsday comes." 

"But it cannot come at any time," urged the exam- 
iner, "for ere the end, the conversion of all Israel 
must take place." 



196 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

Luther replied at some length to this. 

"Not that no Jew will evermore come to faith, ' ' said 
he in conclusion, "for some fragments will remain 
and some individuals will be converted; but that race 
which we call the Jewish people will not be 
converted." 

"Ach, it is all too bad," whispered my clerical 
fledgling. "We cannot use him: he is at one with 
Missouri, and Missouri is so autocratic." 

"But be all that as it may," blandly continued the 
elderly man, "still the Pope, or the Papacy, does not 
bear the marks of Second Thessalonians, two, one to 
twelve, and therefore cannot be the Antichrist. The 
Antichrist is here called the 'man of sin, the son of 
perdition.' That means that he is one who is wholly 
given to sin. You would not say — " 

"Who else is 'the man of sin, the son of perdi- 
tion,' " asked Luther, wheeling around, "than he 
who multiplies sin in the Church and increases the 
loss of souls by means of his false doctrine and 
shameful statutes and still sits in the Church as a 
god?" 

He paused for a reply, and, getting none, 
continued: 

"That is what papal tyranny has done and over- 
done these many years, for it extinguished faith, 
obscured the Sacraments, suppressed the Gospel, and 
multiplied without end commandments of its own 
which are not only wicked and unspiritual, but also 
barbarous and — " 



The Pope Gets a Pelting 197 

"Come, come, Brother Martin, be not so fast, nor 
yet so harsh," said the old man in his soft-tongued 
way; "even the angel Michael durst not bring a rail- 
ing accusation against the devil. Now see, if we say 
the Pope is the son of perdition, it must mean that 
he descends from the father of perdition, who is the 
devil. Now that is — " 

"Whence hails the Papacy?" broke in Luther, his 
eyes flashing fire. "I say now, as I said before, it 
comes from the devil, for it does not come from the 
Church governed by Christ through the Holy Spirit. 
I will prove this so incontrovertibly that even the 
gates of hell shall be powerless against it. ' ' 

"But one cannot so interpret," declared the young. 
est examiner, Greek Testament in hand. 

As a rule, the younger your preacher, the more 
learned he is — in his own conceit. 

"One cannot so interpret," he repeated slowly. 
"This theory goes on the assumption that the Anti- 
christos is an institution or a party continuing 
through centuries. But according to reliable exe- 
getes, this contention will not hold. Just as C hr i s- 
t o s here in First John, two, twenty-two, is an indi- 
vidual, so also His chief adversary on earth, Anti- 
christ os, must in this same passage mean an 
individual." 

"We should not give credence to those who under- 
stand this and similar passages as applying to one 
person only, not knowing the custom of the prophets, 
who commonly indicate an entire kingdom by means 



198 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

of a single individual," Luther replied. "Similarly, 
they apply the term antichrist to a single individual, 
whom St. Paul calls the man of sin and the son of 
perdition, although St. Paul would have it under- 
stood that the entire body, the whole gang of ungodly 
people, and all their successors are that same 
Antichrist." 

"But, see here," said the other examiner, ignoring 
the trend the discussion had taken, "it is true that 
the Pope gives out that he is the vicegerent of Christ, 
but it has not come to this that he 'opposeth 
and exalteth himself above all that is called God, 
or that is worshiped,' as our beloved St. Paul says 
here." 

"I do not understand this in any other way, ' ' replied 
Luther, ' 'than that the word of an ungodly man shal] 
be preferred to the word of God, and the man who 
puts himself in God's place be revered and feared 
above God." 

"Mean you that this applies to the Pope?" asked 
the midde-aged examiner. 

"Look at his decretals and canons," he answered, 
"and you will find that infractions of the Pope's 
statutes are punished more severely than violations 
of the divine commandments. Yes, he tramples and 
defames Christ, the Lord, who alone is to be wor- 
shiped and obeyed; but he wants his own doctrine 
to be accepted and honored, wants to be feared, and 
demands that credence and confidence be given what- 
soever he teaches. That, I think, surely means to 



The Pope Gets a Pelting 199 

seat one's self above the revealed God. From the 
Sacrament — ' ' 

"But, Brother Martin," exclaimed his interlocutor, 
"let us hold to—" 

"From the Sacrament of the Altar, ' ' said he, oblivi- 
ous to the interruption, "from the Sacrament of the 
Altar he has not only taken the cup, robbing the 
Church of it against all right, but he altered the Tes- 
tament of Christ, turned it into a sacrifice, and made 
a commodity of it which coined money. In short, he 
buried Christ altogether, and attributed righteous- 
ness to his man-made commandments and false wor- 
ship, which he invented and introduced without 
God's Word and against it. That means, I trow, to 
exalt one's self above all that is called God. Hear 
for yourself what St. Paul—" 

"But," interposed the young examiner, "one may 
also understand that to mean — ' ' 

"I will not let you give Scripture more than one 
meaning," Luther rejoined with emphasis. "It mat- 
ters not at all how often you try it, or how long you 
exclaim, one may also say, one may also understand, 
one may also answer. Do put away the words, one 
may also. These are false arguments, one and all, 
and they are nothing but loopholes." 

"But listen, Brother Martin," said the elderly man, 
"our beloved St. Paul here says of the Antichrist: 
'He as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing 
himself that he is God.' Now, who ever heard of 

14 



200 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

such a claim on the part of the Papacy? The Pope 
does claim to be the vicar of Christ, but that he — M 

"Yes," Luther exclaimed, firing up, "he insists 
upon it that we shall in no wise doubt his voice to 
be the voice of Christ, to which we may not say, Why 
so? albeit we cite six hundred apostles against it." 
Then he took up the claims which the Papists 
make for the Pope and inveighed against one Syl- 
vester. Finally he grew indignant. 

"They carried it so far, these arrant mouthpieces 
of the devil, that they did not employ veiled lan- 
guage, but boasted freely and openly that the Pope 
and his church were over the Holy Scriptures, and 
that he had the power to alter, repeal, prohibit and 
interpret as he wished. And his was the handicraft 
to mold the Scriptures as a potter turns clay, form- 
ing a crock or a jug, and howsoever he turned it, 
'twas an article of faith. Thus they do to this day 
with the words and institution of Christ concerning 
both kinds in the Sacrament. For they call him an 
earthly god, not a mere man, but a compound of God 
and man, and no doubt would like to say that he is, 
like Christ, true God and man. But thanks be to 
God, at such horrible blasphemy the sun began to 
darken, the veil in the temple is being rent in twain, 
the earth quakes, the graves of the dead are opening, 
and the rocks are rent. It will be different, and that 
right soon. By this (namely how the Pope holds 
himself against and over the Gospel) one can readily 
see the abomination in the holy place, and distin- 



The Pope Gets a Pelting 201 

guish with ease between the Gospel and his doctrine, 
or, as I was about to say, his blasphemy.' * 

"What authority have you," asked the middle- 
aged examiner, "for attributing such an awful claim 
to a church which is still counted a part of Christen- 
dom? It is preposterous." 

"In the books of the Pope and his lickspittles it is 
openly stated what the Pope is, to- wit: not only a 
human being, but also god; that is, the Pope is an 
earthly god — a human being blended with divinity," 
Luther replied. "Yes, a real earthly god like the 
devil, who has nothing heavenly." 

"We do not deny that there is much about the 
Papacy that is antichristian," said the young exam- 
iner; "but we do not think the Papacy, at this stage 
of its development, is the Antichristos. We 
must concede that the Pope still confesses Christ. 
Hence we cannot say, in the face of First John, four, 
three, that the Pope is the Antichrist. 'Every spirit 
that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the 
flesh, is not of God,' says John, 'and this is that 
spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it 
should come.' " 

"The Pope," said Luther, "does indeed confess 
this word: 'Christ is come in the flesh'; but he denies 
its fruit. That is as much as to say, Christ did not 
come in the flesh. For Christ's incarnation did not 
take place for His own sake, but for the purpose of 
saving us. This the Pope denies. To be sure he 
retains the words; but as for the rest, he denies the 



202 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

efficacy of this incarnation, that is, that our heart is 
to put its trust entirely in the righteousness of 
Christ and become righteous through it. This 
article the Pope condemns in his bulls. But Paul 
controverts that with plain words: 'Therefore we 
conclude that a man is justified by faith without the 
deeds of the law.' And our St. John says: 'The blood 
of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.' 
Therefore St. Peter condemns those who deny 'the 
Lord that bought them.' They acknowledge the 
Lord, but that He bought them — ah, that they deny. 
Hence we conclude from this text that the Pope's 
spirit is of the devil." 

The examiners were not listening. They had 
their heads together, and I was wondering if, after 
all this mildness, the colloquy would not end in a 
manner that would constrain us to say the voice 
was Jacob's, but the hand was Esau's. Luther 
stared at the committee a moment, then turned to 
the audience and continued: 

"The Pope takes away Christ, the kernel, and 
leaves the empty words. No one has possessed the 
marks of the Antichrist so exactly as the Pope." 
He picked up the Bible, saying: "Hear for your- 
selves what St. Paul says, Second Thessalonians, 
chapter two, verse four. The Antichrist 'sitteth in 
the temple of God.' Now, if the Pope is the real 
Antichrist, and I believe nothing else, he is not to 
sit or rule in the devil's stable, but in the temple of 
God. Nay, he will not sit where there are nothing 



The Pope Gets a Pelting 203 

but demons and unbelievers, or where there is no 
Christ or Christendom, for he is the Antichrist and 
consequently must be among Christians. And inas- 
much as he sits there and rules, he must have Chris- 
tians under him. The temple of God, in which he 
is to rule, certainly does not mean a pile of stone, 
but holy Christendom." He then quoted something 
from Sylvester, which I did not catch, and added this 
drastic comment: "Now this satan asserts that 
Scripture takes its honor and authority from a mor- 
tal man. What and who is the Antichrist if such a 
Pope is not the Antichrist? satan, satan, how long 
will you abuse the great patience of your Creator!" 

"The Papists are not as bad as they were!" ex- 
claimed the young man at my side.* 

I am sure he had not meant to say it aloud. The 
committeemen looked up simultaneously. Luther 
took the young man's measure at a glance. 

"Verily," said he in a kindly tone, "we should not 
thus give way to the Papists, but expose them again 
by portraying them in their true colors, for they 
would now pose as having been so clean that they 
never dirtied water. Thus young people are easily 
deceived and misled, for they know nothing of their 
abominations and idolatries. We should put them to 
shame with their own examples, deeds and doctrines 



*For an article on the Antichrist by a member of the 
Iowa Synod, see Vol. XXV, No. 4, of the Kirchliche 
Zeitschrift, Chicago, 111.— -E d i t o r. 



204 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

in whatever way we can. The Papists are not to 
be trusted though they declare peace, write it and 
seal it." 

The spokesman rose, put on a look of benignant 
gravity, stroked his burnsides and said with soft 
tongue: 

"We deem it unnecessary to proceed further. You 
have stated your convictions in clear and forceful 
language and with candor — admirable candor, in- 
deed. We differ on some points, it is true, and it is 
possible, perhaps even probable, that you might feel 
more at home in a body like the Missouri Synod." 
That looked to me like Esau's hand. However, he 
continued: "But our beloved Iowa Synod rejects the 
opinion that an agreement also in such doctrines of 
Scripture as are no doctrines of faith must be con- 
ditio sine qua non of church-fellowship, and 
that church-fellowship must be denied on their ac- 
count. Therefore we will gladly welcome you to 
our household of faith, if you are willing to grant 
us the same charity and toleration which we — " 

"Avaunt!" cried Luther, cutting the speech short 
and reaching for his hat. "And this ought to be said 
for me after my death: I have always been opposed 
to such compromises." 

"We meant no offence," faltered the one. 

"Believe us, dear brother," added the other. 

"You misunderstand," declared the third. 

"What shall I, poor man, still say?" he asked, 
turning around. "It is like the wrangling of women 



The Pope Gets a Pelting 205 

and children: 'It is so! it is not so! Yes, no! No, 
yes!'" 

And with that he withdrew, the mild brethren 
with mild smiles bidding him a mild farewell. 

And so it ended just as I think they wanted it to 
end: they had made a toboggan-slide of smiles and 
smirks, and — were rid of him. 
As we met outside, Luther said: 

"Where shall I go?" 

"To Missouri," I replied. 

"Not by a long shot!— leastwise not right away," 
said an old Dane, clapping his hand on Luther's 
shoulder. "You 're my kind of a man: you 've got a 
clear crow an' you 're not afeard to crow it. Lu- 
therans that trim their words for Papists is like 
Plymouthrocks as has white feathers: 'taint a good 
breed. Anyhow, I 'm afeard of those chaps as always 
act as if they was layin' with their heads on their 
Master's bosom, fer they gen'rally have their feet 
where they kin give a brother a good, stout kick- 
kinder on the sly. But — you two are going with 
me out home, where Mother Petersen puts the finish- 
ing touches on what God gives us to eat. You 've 
just got to accept the invitation." 
And we did. 



XI. A TALE OF MINE HOST AND THE SEQUEL 

Honor to women ! to them it is given 

To garden the earth with the roses of heaven. — Schiller. 




E were sitting on the porch of the 
farm manse: the goodman of the 
house, a neighbor and myself. 
Beyond the level stretch of arable 
land, and behind a copse of 
stunted trees and tangled under- 
wood, the sun had sunk to rest, 
_ and the fleecy clouds that o'er- 
hung the horizon shone in the radiance of a mellow 
afterglow. The day was dead — had stolen away 
like some beloved saint and left its halo behind. In 
the sear weeds that fringed the roadway, the cricket 
chirped ominously, for the year was old, and here 
and there a maple in fiery glow stood like a funeral 
torch to light the year to its grave. 

It was a fit time for solemn thought, to be sure, 
for autumn is the first paragraph on eschatology in 
Nature's volume of theology. But though little had 
been said, the spirit of our environment had not 
affected us as it might have. Man is a thing per- 
verse. So is woman. There is a message in the 
tolling of a church belL A man casts it off without 
a second thought. A woman also gets rid of it, but 
by easy gradations, mayhap wondering at first how 

(206) 



A Tale of Mine Host and the Sequel 207 

her shroud will become her, and ending by dwelling 
on the latest dress pattern. In either case, the mon- 
itor is banished. So I had shaken off the spell of 
the hour and was thinking of the colloquy with the 
Iowa Synod. 

Mine host, who had appeared in his Sunday 
clothes without vouchsafing an explanation, was 
wreathed in smiles and looked as if he had something 
important and pleasant to say; and the neighbor, who 
was deacon in the Methodist Church on Sundays and 
'Squire "in and for said township" on week-days, 
looked as if he were anxious to hear what our host 
had to say. So the cricket chirped, and the stars 
twinkled, and time wore on, punctured now and then 
by a commonplace remark. Our hoary host evidently 
did not know where to begin, and the 'Squire appar- 
ently did not want to place an obstacle in the way. 
A child happened to prime conversation. 

"Come, Mabel," the farmer called to the towhead 
who peeped around the corner, "come an' git gran'- 
pap his long pipe — the one as has the Bismarck 
bowl — an' a couple o' matches, like a good girl. 
Now jist wait a bit, you little fox. Tell Gretchen to 
bring up a jug of cider from that bar'l in the fur 
end of the cellar, where the garlic 's hangin', an' 
then a parcel of apples an' some milk, fer this parson 
won't drink no hard cider. Now, skedaddle! an' 
when you come back, I '11 give you a kiss." 

Though chary of words thus far, the Dane was 
really in excellent humor, and wanted to make us 



208 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

feel just as good. He was a magnetic man, with a 
clean-shaven face, round and ruddy; a body that 
you would probably call stocky, and a profusion of 
gray locks which he frequently threw back from his 
brow by tossing his head in a sort of firm, defiant 
manner. There was a lot of the man's character in 
that toss. Then, too, he was rather original and 
energetic in speech. "Curses," said he, "is matter 
what festers in hell and pollutes the earth; aye, it 's 
devil's puke as some fellers suck in an' spit out." 
Then again: "There be fellers as says there is no 
God, an' every blamed one of 'em knows a man can't 
be happy alone. 'Taint no use o' talkin', nobody but 
God would fix it so that happiness must be born 
twins if it 's goin' to live." You could n't help liking 
him. Standing on the porch, with hands in the pock- 
ets of his broad-fall trousers and eyes roaming over 
his broad fields, he was the personification of good 
feeling and homely wisdom. As the child tripped 
away, he turned to the neighbor. 

"You see, 'Squire, I had you tote over because I 
have some little law business to do, but we '11 be 
sociable-like a spell first, fer I have a story to tell 
mighty near as strange as one o' Hans Andersen's." 
Then, tilting his chair and raising his hand, he began: 

"You know, 'Squire, it 's nigh onto three years now 
that — Why, I 'm uncommon glad to see you!" he 
said, addressing Luther, who had just stepped on the 
porch and through the conversation. "Lookin' fresh 
as a cowcumber after a rain." 



A Tale of Mine Host and the Sequel 209 

"I have been quite well," Luther replied, pulling 
his fingers, which were stiff from writing, "and I 
have felt no ringing in my head. Hence I am dis- 
posed to study, for heretofore this ringing has 
greatly tormented me." 

"Well, it 's glad I am you left that writin' o' yourn 
long enough to come down fer a chat. It 's uncom- 
mon good company the 'Squire is, I '11 warrant," 
said he, pushing a chair toward father Luther. 
"The 'Squire he knows more of poets than I do o' 
pork, an' that 's sayin' a heap — 'pon my word, a 



The strings of his tongue were being loosed and 
he spoke plainly and pungently. And the 'Squire- 
well, he felt it incumbent to prove the assertion 
aforesaid. 
"It is," said he, "Alexander Smith, who deposes 
and says: 

'Poetry is 
The grandest chariot wherein king-thoughts ride; — 
One who shall fervent grasp the sword of song 
As a stern swordsman grasps his keenest blade, 
To find the quickest passage to the heart.'" 

"Oh, shet up!" interjected our host in a tone in 
which jest and earnest were yokefellows. But Lu- 
ther said rather wistfully: 

"I regret not having had more time to devote to 
the study of the poets and rhetoricians. I had 
bought a Homer in order to become a Greek." 
Then he said something about a volume of sacred 



210 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

song he had examined, and added: "There is a spirit 
in poets which comes from heaven." 

"No denyin' that 's where it comes from," said the 
old man, tossing his mane back. "It 's like money: 
it 's all the Lord's; but it 's standing out in blamed 
poor hands. He don't even git all o' the interest, an* 
the devil gits a deal o' the principal." That was a 
home thrust. Luther appreciated it. "But as fer 
these here poets, the most of 'em is nothin' but 
fiddlers, sich as sets words to dancin', an' it 's with 
words like it is with people — there 's gen 'rally lust 
in 'em when they dance." 

"Nay, neighbor," replied the 'Squire, "it all de- 
pends upon the spirit in which things are done. 

'A servant with this clause 

Makes drudgery divine; 
Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws, 

Makes that and the action fine.' " 

"God may be served everywhere," commented Lu- 
ther. "A maid servant might be of cheerful heart 
and say: I cook, make the beds, sweep the house. 
Who has told me to do so? My master and mistress, 
'tis true. But who has given them the authority? 
God himself. Then it certainly must be true that I 
am serving not merely my earthly employer, but also 
my heavenly Master, and that God must be pleased 
with my employment. What more blessed occupa- 
tion could I desire? 'Tis the same as if I were cook- 
ing for God in heaven." 



A Tale of Mine Host and the Sequel 211 

These were noble words. But our good father 
always hit the nail — and the Pope — on the head. 

"If we took this view of our work," he de- 
clared, "we would have reason to be cheerful and 
happy all the time, notwithstanding our cares and 
troubles, which would never become too hard to 
bear." 

"And it is as much one man's work to use a pen 
as it is another's to use a pick," commented the 
'Squire. "'Tis just as natural for poets to sing as 
it is for birds." 

"So be it," rejoined the old Dane; "I've nothin' 
agin 'em when they are decent. Besides, I have no 
call to argue, nohow. Argyin' is like blowin' the 
coals of a wood fire: you git some o' the ashes in 
your eyes. But set down. I 'm uncommon gjad that 
the priest Martin gave the man Martin enough time 
to come down-stairs." 

"I am overloaded with writing, speaking and other 
business," he explained, "just as if I had never writ- 
ten, spoken or done anything in my life." 

"And it 's lean thanks you git fer it, with a pack 
of faultfinders a-follerin' an' splatterin' ink all over 
you," our host rejoined. "These — ah, what do you 
call 'em?" 

"Critics," said he of the law, "critics: 

'There are some critics so with spleen diseased, 
They scarcely come inclining to be pleased : 
And sure he must have more than mortal skill, 
Who pleases one against his will.' " 



212 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

"These critics* be the wasps of humankind, with 
pens fer stingers: make no honey theirselves an' find 
fault with all that is made. ' ' 

"Their highest art is to extract the splinter from 
another person's eye and remain oblivious to the 
beam in their own, ' ' said Luther, who knew the tribe 
real well. "To such splinter experts and beam lug- 
gers the Lord is inimical. They are an offensive 
and a bellicose tribe, which regards its own work 
as precious and exalted; but what others produce — 
ah, that must be malodorous! In fine, the faultfinder 
is what we Germans call a Hanswurst, who is pleased 
only with himself. ' ' 

But Luther was always level-headed, always con- 
servative. The fact that he was unjustly criticized, 



*"P ausaniasisof the opinion," says DeanSwift, 
"that the perfection of writing correct was entirely owing 
to the institution of critics * * * which he hides under 
the following allegory: 'The Nauplians in Argos learned 
the art of pruning their vines by observing that where 
an Ass had browsed upon one of them, it thrived the bet- 
ter and bore fairer fruit.' " Had the sardonic dean pursued 
the investigation into the ecclesiastical realm, he would 
have come upon the following additional facts : The Asses 
in the temple enclosure, waxing very bold, took to chew- 
ing the vines to the ground. Then the Nauplians began 
to wail, and quit cultivating vines in the temple precincts. 
Thereupon the Asses fell to hee-hawing most piteously, 
especially those that edited church periodicals; but the 
Nauplians, nothing moved, answered and said: "What, 
shall we keep Asses and do the braying ourselves !" 



A Tale of Mine Host and the Sequel 213 

even venomously assailed, did not serve him as a 
reason for throwing his quill aside and doing noth- 
ing, like some of our modern churchmen. Balking 
is an unseemly thing even in a mule, to say nothing 
of a saint. Besides, it is only a poor mule that balks. 
To quote our host on another occasion: "If a body 
wants to be a mule, let him be a good one." But 
Luther was level-headed and added, as he rose: 

"But if our Lord will use me, I will gladly follow 
and do what I can to the glory of God and the wel- 
fare of my neighbor.' ' 

Then he began to pace the floor and to speak of 
his opponents. That was a different matter: doc- 
trine, not diction; Scripture, not style. 

"Now let the scurrilous books come and rain and 
snow defamation!" he exclaimed. "Let our adver- 
saries fume and rage. God has not opposed a wall 
of stone or a mountain of brass to the waves of the 
sea: a bank of sand has been enough. 'Blessed are 
ye, when men shall revile you.' We are to rejoice 
over it as the sure token that we are the blessed — 
the true Church. To speak for myself, I am greatly 
pleased that books of this character are written 
against me." 

There was a momentary lull. Then the 'Squire 
turned around. 

1 ' Reverend, ' ' said he, ' ' our host has a story to tell. ' ' 

"So?" queried Luther with patent interest. 

"Yes," answered the venerable Dane. "As I was 
sayin', three years come Advent, me an' mother went 



214 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

to the borough to church in the mornin', an' 
Gretchen, our hired girl, stayed here to kinder keep 
an eye on things. A woman an' a dog kin watch a 
house, that is to say, ordinarily: the woman has the 
brains an' the dog has the bark an' the bite. It was 
one of 'em mornin 's when it feels sort o' good to 
sniffle the frost in the air. An' bein' tolerable cold- 
like when we got there, I hitched, an' me an' mother 
we went into the sacristy to thaw out a little, an' 
announce our — " 

"Sacristy — what 's that?" the 'Squire interjected. 

"Oh, that 's a place fer the preacher to go in all 
alone an' kick hisself after preachin' a poor sermon. 
You orter build one to that church o' yourn." 
Luther smiled. 

"Church kept in purty long, fer it was Communion 
day, an' then me an' mother went to Sophy's fer 
dinner. (Sophy is my daughter as got the sheriff.) 
Then his father came, an' we sot a-talkin' an' the 
wimenfolks a-jabberin' till long after dark, never 
dreamin' that somethin' might happen at home.— 
There, I '11 be cow-kicked, ' ' he exclaimed abruptly, 
"if that shoat ain't in the garden rootin' out them 
covered cabbages! I must git the dog." As he 
walked off, he muttered: "Some pigs is human 
enough to be hogs." 

The old sire was hardly off the porch, when the 
magistrate began a discussion of the Lord's Supper. 
Luther listened and explained very patiently until 
patience ceased to be a virtue. 



A Tale of Mine Host and the Sequel 215 

"Some of the greatest teachers of Protestantism," 
said he of the law, "teach more in accordance with 
reason, namely, that the bread and wine merely rep- 
resent Christ's body and blood." 

"Smart teachers they who measure divine works 
with reason and the ocean with a spoon!" Luther 
retorted. 

"But Zwingli—" 

"What a fellow that Zwingli is with his rank igno- 
rance of grammar and dialectics, not to mention 
other sciences!" 

"Now I meant no offence," said the 'Squire, "and 
mean none now; but the Lutherian doctrine seems 
to me to be very hard to believe." 

"It is an easy matter for me to believe that Christ's 
body is under the bread," said Luther, "but hard to 
believe that so many superb bodies in heaven and on 
earth should have come out of nothing. I cannot 
comprehend that — it is impossible for me. Much 
less can I comprehend how the Son of God was born 
of the Virgin, and that the other two persons of the 
Godhead did not become incarnate. Do they mean 
to take offence at this article? If they do not want 
to learn the A B C's, how will they learn the gram- 
mar? The article of creation is such a transcendent 
thing that no man can comprehend it. If I had or 
could have a thorough knowledge of all creatures, 
and should set it forth in words, you would see in it 
just as great, aye, even greater wonders than are in 

15 



216 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

this Sacrament. Take the soul, which is a single 
creature and is nevertheless in the whole body at the 
same time, even in the least organ, so that when I 
touch the smallest part I reach the whole soul. Now, 
if one soul can be in all members at the same time, 
and I not understand how this is effected, should 
not Christ be able to bring it to pass that He be in 
the Sacrament at all places at the same time?' ' 

When the goodman of the house returned, Luther 
dropped the subject, saying with a smile: 

"All these things you will learn sufficiently, if you 
come out and hear good sermons." 

"Yes," said our host, mounting the top step, "come 
out an' hear good sermons; but jist now we '11 git in 
out o' the cold." 

At the hall door we met the child with the pipe 
and matches. 

"0 grandpap," she exclaimed, quite out of breath, 
"you ought to see Gretchen! She can't come down- 
stairs and get cider. She has a purty white dress 
on, and is fixin' with, oh, the nicest ribbons. May n't 
I go and help?" 

"Them wimen," said the old man, lighting a match 
for his pipe, "no man kin understand one! The 
man as gits one has a riddle as will last the rest 
of his nat'ral life," he reflected, as he watched the 
spirals of smoke from his pipe. "Well, after all, a 
man don't take much interest in a thing as he knows 
all about — that 's a fact. So I 'm a-thinkin' the good 
Lord fixed it so as we can't find out all about a 



A Tale of Mine Host and the Sequel 217 

woman because He wants us always to have an inter- 
est in her an' always to have a kind o' hankerin' in 
our hearts after a seein' her ways." 

"Nothing on earth is more desirable," remarked 
Luther, "than the love of woman, to him who may 
have it. ' ' 

"As Nat Willis deposes and says," added the 
'Squire: 

'The world well tried — the sweetest thing in life 
Is the unclouded welcome of a wife !' " 

We entered the "front room," a stuffy apartment 
with enough bric-a-brac to stock a curiosity shop. 
There was so much straw under the carpet that it 
crunched under our feet. A beggar might have slept 
on it and dreamed of heaven. But as for the house- 
wife herself, never were apron strings tied around 
a bigger heart, or pots and kettles put on stove by 
better cook. I see her benign face now in the little 
black cap, edged with white lace. She showed us 
the photographs — it was the third time for me — and, 
as she held up his picture, bemoaned afresh the 
tragic career of a young minister. 

"Poor man," sighed she, "if only Jane Petersen 
and the rest hadn't tried to make matches for him, 
and had allowed me to marry him off to Oleson's 
Marguerite, it would never — " 

"Now, Mother," interjected the old gentleman, 
"folks ain't got no call to regalate a priest's courtin'. 
Anyhow, when the old wimen of a congregation take 



218 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

to makin' matches fer a single preacher, the devil 
gen 'rally furnishes the brimstone." 

The words were sour as a lemon, but there was 
so much sweetness in the tone that the remark was 
as palatable as lemonade. 

"But it must be admitted," said the 'Squire, "that 
he was the most sociable and commonest man your 
communion ever had here." 

The old gentleman seemed to be nettled. 

"I ain't got no use for this here familiarity business 
on the part of preachers," he rejoined. "If a man 
wears his heart on his sleeve, 'tain't nice if he wipes 
his nose on it. ' ' 

"But it wouldn't have happened," persisted the 
old lady, with a woman's pity for a masculine wreck. 
"And he was so pious-like, and now they won't let 
him preach any more." 

"That 's right," said the old Dane with emphasis. 
"Let 'im squat in a pew, not stomp in a pulpit. Give 
sich a man the pastor's key to other men's homes? 
Nay — I say, nay! A minister has got to be tame and 
clean, hasn't he?" 

"He should be a man," Luther answered, "tried 
and true, of whom blasphemers would be ashamed 
to speak evil. He should be praised and held in 
honor even by unbelievers, otherwise he is a laugh- 
ing-stock to them, inasmuch as he is unable to answer 
if anything dishonorable is laid at his door, which 
would be a disgrace to the congregation and an 
offence to outsiders." 



A Tale of Aline Host and the Sequel 219 

The situation was becoming awkward, but the 
'Squire proved strategist by saying: 

"The story, neighbor, the story!" 

"Yes," said he, "the story," and the housewife 
withdrew, brushing away some tears for the whilom 
preacher. "Well, as I was savin', we stayed late in 
the borough, an' comin' home me and mother was 
talkin' o' the days when we was courtin' an' drivin* 
over these roads o' nights. Then the old feelin' 
came back, an' I jist let the old mare jog along slow, 
like I used to when mother an' me was keepin' com- 
pany. An' so it was past midnight when we got 
home. Then I minded how I used to be afeard the 
dog would bark and wake the folks. Somehow, I 
didn't want Carlo to bark that night. It was agin 
my feelin 's. I wanted to slip in like I used to. No 
need of sich thoughts, 'Squire, fer when we come to 
the porch — I 'U never forgit that — there was Carlo 
layin' in blood on the steps, his teeth a-showin' in 
the moonlight. I kinder felt choky. 'Mother,' says 
I, 'something 's gone wrong!' An' when we made a 
light in the livin'-room, there was drills, an' jimmies, 
an' a piece o' candle on the sofa." 

"Burglars!" said the magistrate. Luther showed 
tense interest. 

"There was goose-flesh every inch o' me, an* you 
know, neighbor, I ain't no coward, either. But I 
says, 'Mother, we must first look fer that girl o' 
ourn.' We found her out in the kitchen, an' a young 
feller as looked like a beggar a-gittin' away with a 



220 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

meaL '0 Master,' says she, 'there was robbers here, 
an' they shot the dog, an' I fainted, an' this man 
came fer somethin' to eat — seem' a light — an' he 
scared the robbers away an' put water on my face, 
an' I got him supper.' " 

"A filthy tramp!" commented the 'Squire. "This 
thing of you folks feeding these vagabonds is dead 
wrong." 

And strange, passing strange, Luther, whom I 
had seen giving a silver cup to a mendicant, added: 

"Though I were able, yet would I not give to those 
idle beggars; for the more one gives them, the 
oftener they come. I will not cut my bread away 
from my wife and children and hand it to such as 
these; but to one who is worthy, I will give with all 
my heart according to my ability. ' ' 

"But I was mighty glad to let him stay all night," 
said our host, taking up the broken thread of his 
narrative, "an' in the mornin', when he asked fer 
work, I hired 'im, seein' he was strong an' a small 
feeder, bein' short-coupled between ribs an' hips." 
The last words were a dab at the 'Squire, who was 
stingy. 

The old Dane stopped and puffed his pipe. 

"Well?" queried the 'Squire. 

"Well, he made a likely hand. But when Holy 
Week came, the girl comes to me a-cryin' an' 
says: 'I want to go to Communion. I want to con- 
fess. I lied to you once, an' I 've had to lie ever 
since.' 



A Tale of Mine Host and the Sequel 221 

"A lie is like a snowball," Luther commented, "the 
longer you roll it, the bigger it grows." 

11 'Out with it!' says I, 'make free!' An' she says: 
'That night when the robber came, I waited late on 
you to git back. Then I went into the closet to hunt 
up Monday's washin', an' the door blowed shet an' 
locked me in. Then the robber came. When he shot 
the dog, I screamed and fainted. An' when I came 
to, he was kneeling beside me with the wash-basin. 
He was so nice and kind. Then he told me why he 
came, an' the tears was in his eyes, an' he said he 
would never steal any more, if I would n't tell. So 
I pitied him and lied to you. I didn't mean any- 
thing bad. Oh, forgive.' 'Forgive?' says I, 'I '11 
kick that feller out o' the county!' " 

"Why did n't you drive over and swear out a war- 
rant under statute in such case made and provided?" 
asked the 'Squire. 

'"Cause there's two wimenfolks here," he an- 
swered significantly. "An', besides, 'tain't smart to 
advertise you 've got money in the house. But when 
I was fer kickin' the chap right off the place, the 
girl started to beller, an' there was mother with the 
apron to her eyes, an' she says mighty strong-like: 
'You won't do no sich a thing! He 's been a good 
boy, an' he 's jist as old as our boy as is dead, an' 
we '11 keep 'im.' 'Twasn't no use fussin'. God is 
partial to petticoats. A man is born with no 
weapons at all as I kin see. He 's got to git a club, 
or a stone, or a gun. But a woman is born with two 



222 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

of 'em — a tongue an' tears. A feller kin hold out 
fornenst a tongue, but the tears — the tears is what 
fixes a man. I jist melted, an' blubbered over, an' 
knuckled under. I Ve had 'im with me ever since." 

"What?" asked the magistrate, amazed. "Not 
Nick Bauer?" 

"The same; best hand in three counties," he an- 
swered with evident gratification. "An' I don't 
know but he 's the best boy I 've raised. If I was n't 
dead sartin there is no angels in pants, I 'd think I 
took in an angel unawares, like the Scriptures say. 
But it was n't me: it was them two wimen an' their 
mercy." 

"Let us pray our dear Father in heaven," said 
Luther, "to enable us all to become thorough dis- 
ciples of Christ and have a heart in which there is 
an inexhaustible fountain of love." 

Our host sat silent, smoking and staring at the 
ceiling. 

"Well?" said the 'Squire, who was denting the 
carpet with his foot. 

"Well, this here story has a — " 

"Moral?" the 'Squire anticipated. 

"Naw, a sequel." 

"What may it be?" queried the 'Squire. 
Simultaneously there was a beating of pans, a 
ringing of bells, and a thumping of boxes in the 
yard. 

"There," said the old Dane, "that 's the sequel." 



A Tale of Mine Host and the Sequel 223 

The clock struck eight. The minister and the 
bridal party entered. Luther whispered to our host: 
''God delights in preparing surprises for both me 
and the world." And that pleased the Dane. He 
had insisted that Luther give the bride away, and 
he had consented, saying: "I will honor your little 
wedding as much as I can." So he took his place, 
and, at the proper time, said: 
"Sir, and dear friend, I give you this young maid 
as God in His goodness gave her to me. I confide 
her to your hands. May God bless you, sanctify your 
union, and make it happy." 

And right hearty also were his congratulations 
after the ceremony. To the bride he said: "I invoke 
God's richest blessing. The greatest favor God can 
bestow is to have a good and pious husband. ' ' And 
to the groom: "Esteem her more highly than the 
kingdom of France and the principality of Venice. 
For this is God's greatest gift and favor — a virtuous, 
God-fearing wife, with whom thou canst live in peace, 
and to whom thou mayest safely entrust all thou 
hast." 

When the company was admiring the presents, 
Luther said he had been taken by surprise, and so 
could buy no gift, but would nevertheless give them 
one of precious value. Then he picked up the Bible, 
which mother had presented the groom, and wrote 
on the front fly-leaf: 
"Dear Father in heaven, who hast condescended to 
bestow upon me Thy paternal name and office, grant 



224 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

me grace and blessing to guide and govern my wife 
and household in Thy fear. Give me wisdom and 
strength, and them a willing heart and mind, to 
walk in Thy statutes, through Jesus Christ. Amen. ' ' 
Handing it to the groom, he said: "In this little 
present you will at least recognize my ardent good 
will. Prayer is the Christian's best occupation." 



"Now, 'Squire, as the folks is gone an' we 're alone, 
I want you to make out them papers. Me an' mother 
is goin' to sign over that house an' quarter-section 
in Kansas to this scamp as come to steal our gold, 
an' goes with stealin' our girl." Tears welled to the 
old man's eyes. "Consarn that thief, anyhow! I 
believe he 's got a piece o' my old heart, too." 




XII. EVERYTHING IS LOVELY 

He could distinguish and divide 

A hair 'twixt north and northwest side. — Hudibras. 




T was one of the first days of win- 
ter when I arrived at St. Louis to 
attend the Missouri colloquium. 
The sun shone bright, but it was 
like the glow of the sun seen 
in a painting— a thing without 
warmth; or like sunshine in a 
morgue — a thing without cheer. 
Chilled to the marrow, I felt these tokens to be an 
augury of coming events. The Missouri pastors 
whom I met were all courteous, but somehow the 
impression was left that it was meant to be the kind- 
ness of superior creatures to an inferior strain of the 
same breed— conduct that always chills in exact pro- 
portion to its warmth and profuseness. 

Luther, who had arrived the day before, had 
received the most assiduous attention on account of 
his learning, which, be it said to Missouri's credit, 
the St. Louis men were not slow to perceive and 
appreciate. He was taken to the theological sem- 
inary, accompanied to several recitations, and, in 
short, all the treasures of Missouri were presented 
to his gaze, including those ever-to-be-revered 
relics, the desk of Dr. Walther and the long 

(225) 



226 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

German tobacco-pipes, with which he made the 
atmosphere blue and redolent when he wrote ser- 
mons or composed those matchless specimens of 
polite literature, the essays on predestination* I 
am told Luther looked at the relics with disapprov- 
ing mien; but when he learned the real status of the 
case, namely, that Walther, though sainted, is not 
canonized,! he smiled, and, assuming the air of one 
who had seen much of the world and held the pres- 
ent exhibition to be mere child's play and hardly 
worthy of notice, said: 
"When I was in Rome, they showed me, for a pre- 
cious and holy relic, the halter with which Judas 
hanged himself!" 

This was irritating and did much, I dare say, to 
prejudice his examiners when they heard of it. But 
a little incident which occurred the next morning 
came very near spoiling the whole thing. With his 
abnormal Teutonic frankness, Luther was all the 

*It is said that when one of the younger Missourians 
has the dogma of predestination to defend, he stealthily 
steals to the Walther Museum and takes a few whiffs 
from one of the old pipes. But this is doubtless an inven- 
tion worthy to be classed with the "pious frauds" of yore. 
It is more likely that the orthodox practice in this respect 
is limited to using the same brand of smoking-tobacco. 

fThus far nothing more has been done than to place 
his name before St. Andrew's in the synodical calendar. 
Should the canonization be undertaken, I understand the 
editor of The Error of Modern Missouri is to 
be the advocatus diaboli. 



Everything is Lovely 227 

time putting his foot into things and then looking 
so charmingly innocent and wondering what all the 
fuss was about. Once, when I hinted it would be 
a good idea to be a little more politic, he merely 
laughed and said, "If I do not use the just cere- 
monial of a court, pardon me, for I am not familiar 
with its usage." And so, day after day, he continued 
to speak and act with his characteristic candor 
which, like an April day with its sunshine and show- 
ers, pleased and provoked at intervals. 

At the time of which I speak, he was on his way 
to the colloquium with a Missouri pastor and teacher. 
The pastor was a large, austere-looking German, who 
carried a gold-headed cane, wore a silk hat, and 
strode along with an air that said, "der Herr 
Pastor!" at every other step, and at every inter- 
vening footfall, "Ich bin, Ich bin!" He was so 
overanxious to walk erect that he leaned back- 
ward — an attitude which all the Missouri clergymen 
assume in the realm of doctrine, for these good peo- 
ple make such a gigantic effort to be strictly ortho- 
dox that most of them lean the wrong way. But for 
all that, I thought I liked the man. We all like inno- 
cent self-importance: it makes us smile. But to the 
matter in hand. At a beck from Luther, I crossed 
the street and walked with them towards the church. 
He was wearing a white rose in a buttonhole and 
had a dark red one in his hand. I think I have not 
mentioned this before, but it was his custom to 
appear with a flower of some sort, when it was to be 



228 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

had in garden or hothouse, just as he went to the 
debate with Cajetan with a flower pinned to his robe. 
He graciously handed me the red rose and I thanked 
him, remarking that it was a beautiful specimen of 
God's handiwork. 

"Yes," said Luther, "if a man were able to make 
one rose, he would be worthy of an empire. I — " 

"Here go we in," broke in our teacher, in English, 
probably out of deference to me and my beggarly 
German; "here go we in und take us one beer und 
pretzel. Dese be fine peoples : go by us in de church. ' ' 
I looked up and blushed. It was a saloon of the 
common stripe, windows fly-specked, doors open, 
emitting a sour smell and presenting to view pictures 
of prize-fighters and daughters of Eve immodestly 
attired. It is a fixed principle with me not to enter 
a place of that character. I want my influence to 
count on the other side, and, besides, the association 
of ideas is painful. The devil has crushed many a 
heart there. There, too, he performs feats in the 
black art: drowns a man in a wine-glass, submerges 
a farm in a beer-mug, and transmutes a father into a 
fiend. But I did not want to wound the feelings of 
the man who proposed this treat, for he did not see 
things as I do and meant only to be kind. So I said 
rather meekly: 

"No, thank you. A sip of beer gives me a 
headache. ' ' 

Then I felt as if my moral character had shrunk 
like flannel in hot water, for I should have been 



Everything is Lovely 229 

truthful enough with myself to have said more; but 
Luther blurted out an emphatic refusal, and added 
with his usual candor: 

"The devil has spoiled all the beer with his pitch!" 
Our Missouri brother had rebuked the teacher for 
suggesting anything of that sort; but now he was 
horrified, not at the trick which it was asserted the 
devil had played, but at us. Had he fallen in una- 
wares with men infected with the fanaticism of the 
sects? Was it to be regarded as contagious, like 
the smallpox or the black death? He threw his 
shoulders back, as if to get as far away as possible, 
and eyed us from aloof with suspicion. 

"Vat!" said he, assuming the voice of a hussar 
and looking daggers at Luther, for it was he who 
had given the greater provocation, "vat! be you 
beide temperenzlers vat make us blame for der 
saloon? Vat say we Germans sauf beer?" 

"We Germans," replied Luther, placing his hand 
on the brother's shoulder, "should certainly better 
ourselves in this respect, since God in His great 
goodness has so richly given us the light of the Gos- 
pel in these last days." Then, after a moment's 
pause, he said slowly, with a quaver of sadness in 
his voice, "The man who first brewed beer was a 
pest to Germany." 

"What!" exclaimed the brother, lapsing into a fine 
High German, where his verbal weapons had a finer 
edge and were better suited to his hand, "do you 
hold with the fanatics?" 



230 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

"We, for our part, never did," Luther replied; 
"but booze continues to be a mighty idol among us 
Germans." 

Our brother's face turned ashen. As he saw the 
situation, our common German honor was at stake. 
Germania was receiving a blow in the face, and a 
blow from a son at that. Ah me, poor brother! 
Wrath had him by the throat and was choking him. 
But finally he stammered out: 

"Shame, shame. Just like all these Americans. 
That 's what this herd of Irish, Scotch, English is 
always flinging in our teeth." 

"And if nothing else will help, surely the shame 
that comes upon us in other lands should move us," 
said Luther, not at all ruffled by the aspersion cast 
upon him. "For in this particular other nations, 
especially Italy, have a proud advantage over us 
and tauntingly call us the full Dutch." 

"It's a mean slander!" the brother retorted; but 
Luther proceeded in his calm, impressive way, alto- 
gether unmindful of the interruption. 

"Every land must needs have its own devil," said 
he: "Italy hers, France hers. Our German devil is 
doubtless a right big wine-skin, and must be called 
swill, for he is so thirsty and hot that he cannot be 
slaked with all this guzzling of wine and beer. 
And such abiding thirst and plague of Germany 
will, I fear, remain to the judgment day. Ministers 
have opposed it with God's Word, rulers with enact- 
ments, and some of the nobility with pledges among 



Everything is Lovely 231 

themselves. Great and horrible ruin— dishonor, 
murder, all the evil it wreaks on body and soul 
before our eyes — has cried out against it, and still 
cries out against it. This should certainly frighten 
us away from it. But booze continues to be a 
mighty idol among us Germans and acts like the 
sea and dropsy: the sea is not sated with all the 
water that flows into it, and the dropsy grows all 
the more thirsty and worse from drinking." 

Our brother winced under this, and, cold-water 
advocate that I have always been, I must admit that 
my blood began to boil at this arraignment of mine 
own people, though I knew not what to say in 
defence. Verily, blood is thicker than water. Yet 
Luther seemed not a whit less a German for it all. 
'Twas like the scathing rebukes of the Hebrew 
prophets and came with dignity and authority. 
But when our brother essayed to bolster things up 
a little by an appeal to history and present condi- 
tions, for the purpose of showing that the Germans, 
though a beer-drinking people, were the best na- 
tional examples of true temperance, he did not 
mend matters, for Luther, with a twinkle in his eye, 
related several incidents which were quite as good 
as any refutation he might have attempted. 
"At the princely wedding celebrated lately at 
Torgau," said he, "they drank a whole bottle of 
wine at one draught, which they called a good swal- 
low. Cornelius Tacitus wrote that it was not 

16 



232 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

thought by the ancient Germans to be a shame to 
drink and swill for four-and-twenty hours at a 
stretch. A gentleman at court asked how long 
agone it was that Cornelius wrote concerning drink- 
ing. 'Twas answered, about fifteen hundred years. 
Whereupon he said: '0 my lords, forasmuch as swill- 
ing is of such long and glorious descent, let us not 
render it extinct!' " 

Our clergyman smiled and then laughed outright 
at this fellow's conceit, and with it the heat of his 
anger was gone, for wrath can survive a genuine 
laugh as little as ice can withstand the glow of sum- 
mer's sun. And so it came that a better spirit was 
injected into the discussion. 

Our brother, now in a sweeter frame of mind, 
took up the discussion of the use of distilled and 
fermented liquors, irrespective of their abuse and 
the common character of the places where they are 
vended. Thus, by a twist of the tongue, the ques- 
tion was shifted from the concrete to the abstract. 
And, by the way, nothing is more harmless, inno- 
cent and genteel than the saloon in the abstract. 
The only trouble is that it cannot be kept there. In 
dialectics you can, by a twist of your tongue, turn 
a hog into a gentleman, but for all practical pur- 
poses it stays in the sty. However, as stated, they 
now entered the domain of the abstract. Here there 
was agreement in all essentials, Luther not being in 
the least inclined to make a sin of that which God 
has not made a sin; but when it came to the ques- 



Everything is Lovely 233 

tion of exercising one's personal liberty, he made 
several statements that struck me as forceful. For 
instance, in dealing with the subject in a general 
way and speaking of the weak who might be made 
to stumble, he said: 

"These have to be spared. We must, to avoid 
giving them offence, observe fastings and other 
things which they consider to be essential matters, 
for this is required by true charity, which harms 
none and serves all." 

And when asked by his opponent, "Who says 
so?" he replied: 

"The apostle, First Corinthians, eighth chapter: 
'If my meat make my brother to offend, I will eat 
no flesh while the world standeth.' " 

Presently they got into Caesar's domain. In 
these days we usually do in discussing this ques- 
tion. When asked if he thought the government 
ought to interfere and enact restrictive measures, 
he answered emphatically and without a moment's 
hesitation: 

"Here princes and lords ought to interfere." 
It was evident from the frown that crept over 
the features of our churchman that he dissented 
and that a new issue was born. But just then a 
newsboy came upon the scene and a man came to 
the door of the saloon, and thus attention was 
diverted from the matter in hand. Luther was 
attracted by the lad and the Missouri pastor's eye 
was riveted on the individual at the door. 



234 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

The newsboy's voice sounded out loud and clear 
in a few melodious notes, like the matin song of 
some bird. "Paper, mister?" he asked, sidling up 
and pleading eloquently with his eyes. Luther, who 
was always interested in children, took a copy, 
placed a quarter in his palm and started a conver- 
sation with the lad, who was a bright, clean little 
fellow from one of the parochial schools. "My dear 
little son," said he in conclusion, "I am glad to hear 
that thou learnest well and prayest diligently. To 
pray well is the better half of study. God bless 
thee." And the little codger scampered off, cheered 
by the kind words and looking bright as a pansy 
washed by the dew and kissed by the sun. What 
alchemy in the touch of love \ "Morning papers!" 
rang out again, loud, and clear, and sweet, and the 
little fellow turned the corner and vanished from 
sight. Turning to me, Luther said kindly and 
impressively: 

"I would not have the poor students spurned who try 
to earn their bread by singing before your door, ask- 
ing food for the love of God. I have done the same. ' ' 

Then there was that far-away look in his eyes 
and they grew misty. 

In the meantime our German pastor had called 
to him the man who had appeared at the saloon 
door. He was a member of his congregation, wore 
the garb of an artisan, and showed his love for the 
bottle by his florid face and red nose, though at this 
time he was to all appearances sober. 



Everything is Lovely 235 

"Don't you ever let me see you coming out of a 
saloon again. Shame on you, Hans, fie for shame!" 
said the pastor. 

"Why, 'every creature of God is good, and nothing 
to be refused, if—' ' ' 

"Enough, hush," said the preacher. "No drunkard 
shall inherit the kingdom of God. You 're on the way 
of the drunkard. You swill yourself guzzle full." 

Hans's ire rose. "Who told you I get drunk?" he 
asked with quivering lip. 

"A good authority. A man you must believe." 

"Trot him out!" exclaimed Hans defiantly. "Show 
me the man, if you dare." 

"Come, I will show him to you," answered the 
preacher; "you shall meet him face to face." And 
he took Hans by the sleeve, led him into the saloon, 
and marched him straight up to the mirror. "There, 
there now," said he, pointing at the reflection of 
red-nosed Hans. "There, do you see him? That 's 
the man who told me." 

And poor Hans slunk away completely abashed, 
and, let us hope, bettered. 

After all, the German pastor was as much opposed 
to the vice of drunkenness as any of us. Yet I am 
of the opinion that no minister should have aught 
to do with the saloon. It takes the edge from his 
testimony, for laymen are apt to think, as my good 
old Cowper puts it, — 

"Strike up the fiddle, let us all be gay ! 
Laymen have leave to dance, if parsons play." 



236 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

When the pastor returned, we resumed our way 
to the church. Luther's only comment on the scene 
just witnessed was: "Whence can we take the ser- 
mon that would be powerful enough to overcome 
this disgraceful hog life and drink devil among us?" 
The question elicited no reply. In fact, very little, 
if anything, was said until we reached the church. 
Each was busy with his own thoughts. 

We had come together, you remember, at the seat 
of Missouri's Vatican, and her great men and chival- 
rous were there, her Don Quixote and her Samson, 
men who deserve honorable mention in Missouri's 
annals for their many mighty deeds in the wars 
against the Philistines — the Ohioans, the Swedes, 
and the unwashed throng who will not say: "Great 
is Missouri: Walther is her prophet: there, are no 
other Lutherans!" The former doughty notable has 
knocked over multitudes of synergists, albeit he first 
made them of straw and set them up to be knocked 
down; and the latter valiant man of fame has repeat- 
edly slain the "Philistines," hip and thigh, with 
the jaw-bone of an ass, albeit the jaw-bone was his 
own, and the naughty "Philistines" never found out 
they were slain. Nevertheless, these are big men 
in their own camp, for they tower head and shoulders 
above their companions. Besides these men of re- 
nown, others less renowned were present at the ses- 
sions, but they were not members of the examining 
committee. 

When the colloquium was about to be opened, I 



Everything is Lovely 237 

got into a little trouble on my own account — the first 
encountered since I had entered on this Boswellian 
enterprise. My presence was obnoxious. A com- 
mittee of one was sent to investigate. When I told 
him I was a reporter, he answered that they would 
do their own reporting if they had anything to 
report. Then I scratched my head where it is 
growing bald and tried to recall some shibboleth. 
To say, I am a Lutheran, would be both bootless and 
risky. Would not the very next question be, "To 
what part of the honorable Synodical Conference do 
you belong?" That would not do. Only a numb- 
skull would twist a rope for his own neck. So I 
switched the conversation on a side-track as soon as 
possible, waxed eloquent and voluble on general 
church matters and wove into my sentences as many 
of Missouri's pet expressions as I possibly could. 
Oh, how I made "Synergist" trot! and "gottse- 
liges Geheimnis" — what a fog I conjured up 
with that! But the result, ah, it was magical. 
Stay? Why certainly I might, and more than that, 
I was entirely welcome. As for the report, well, it 
would be altogether in keeping with the honor which 
one should give his superiors, and especially the 
obedience which one should yield those who have 
the rule over us, if I would submit it to the presi- 
dent of the committee before publishing it. Then 
he withdrew, leaving behind the frown he had 
brought and taking with him a complacent smile, 
and I sharpened my pencil, wondering if Missouri 



238 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

had learned a trick or two from Rome or simply 
sucked them out of her thumb. If the latter, it must 
be a very accommodating thumb out of which one 
can get such nice, liberal theories and such domi- 
neering practice. 

After reading the ninth chapter of Romans and 
offering a short prayer, the chairman declared the 
session open. The questioning began at once. This 
proved to be by all odds the finest colloquy of the 
entire series. In fact, I never attended a better one. 
There was order and depth to it. It was a real 
pleasure to sit and listen. The entire ground of 
dogmatics was gone over in a thoroughly systematic 
manner. It was admirable. Luther had found men 
in some measure worthy of his steel. He seemed to 
enjoy it. He answered with animation and some- 
times at considerable length, setting forth the mys- 
teries of God in clear and beautiful language. The 
examiners soon realized they had a master before 
them, and in a short time it looked to me as if they 
were lost in admiration and were asking a question 
now and then only to keep up the glow of Luther's 
discourse, as one would occasionally stir a fire to 
keep the flame ablaze and see the sparks shoot. Ulti- 
mately, the bearing and the learning of this master 
divine cast a spell over the little assembly. The 
doctrine of the Last Things was finally reached and 
finished, and the dogmatical examination was closed 
with perfect agreement from beginning to end. The 
doctrine of Predestination had been touched upon 



Everything is Lovely 239 

very lightly by the chairman, for some good and 
sufficient reason which was not patent, and none of 
the others appeared to be inclined to ask any ques- 
tions on this subject. To me the thing was passing 
strange, and I concluded that some Missourians are 
loth to touch that subject for the same reason that 
a burned child shuns the fire. 

A few minutes were yet left till the time for the 
noon adjournment. These were consumed by the 
spectators in asking ethical questions. The subject 
of usury was presented, and Luther agreed with 
them in denouncing the taking of interest on loans 
under ordinary circumstances. Another asked him 
if he held it to be right for a man to marry his 
deceased wife's sister, and he answered that he 
thought it was not right. This also was Missouri's 
position. In fine, so far there was nothing but 
agreement. 

As we went to lunch, Luther was in fine spirits; 
and little wonder, for the morning's work had been 
exhilarating, and in all our itinerary he had not been 
so near his goal. 




@®@®@SSS®§5SS£§> 



XIII. A FLY IN THE OINTMENT 

For he was of that stubborn crew 

Of errant saints, whom all men grant 

To be the true church militant. — Hudibras. 




HE brother with whom we had 
gone to the colloquium in the 
morning must have conferred with 
the committee during the recess, 
for when we convened again it 
was only too evident that a change 
had come over their hitherto se- 
rene spirits. The good brother 
had no doubt related to them the discussion we had 
on the way in the morning, and now — now there was 
a fly in the ointment and their hearts were sore 
troubled. 

This condition of affairs gave rise to the most 
ludicrous thing that happened in our entire round 
of synods. The great Reformer, the most German 
German of all the Germans of all the centuries, was 
actually suspected of being a Yankee — nativistic in 
sentiment and chock full of Puritan notions. Just 
think of it! Well, so wags the world, and so wag 
some churchmen who would not be wags for all the 
world. Verily, men of high degree and men of low 
degree are never more like donkeys than when they 
allow suspicion to pull them around by the ears, for 

(240) 



A Fly in the Ointment 241 

then they not only have long ears, but they usually 
bray and kick also. But men, like boys and apes, 
will cut capers, and little seems to be the use of 
wasting energy by rapping them over the fingers 
with the end of a pen. It is pleasanter to laugh, and 
it likely does more good. 

Their suspicion was not expressed in so many 
words, but it was very plain in the questions put. 
Just as soon as the afternoon session was opened, 
the chairman started in on the temperance question. 
He said a deal on the fanaticism of the sects, and 
was especially verbose on the subject of the total 
abstinence propaganda. All this was preliminary to 
the question: 

"Do you think it would enrage God if you were to 
take a sup of beer?" 

Luther laughed such a merry peal as I had not 
yet heard from him, and then said, "God could stand 
it if I took a good swallow, ' ' shook his head slowly, 
as if to say, this sort of questioning beats all, and 
then laughed again. 

The colloquists put their heads together over the 
table. Luther's laughing provoked them. As a 
rule, nobody likes to be compelled to pay for an- 
other man's laugh. What they thought of his reply 
I do not know, but they continued to talk in an 
undertone of this answer, or of the next question, 
for quite a while. 

Luther grasped the situation at once, and now 
seemed bent on driving them a merry canter at their 



242 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

own pace. We had not been ecclesiastical tramps 
to no purpose. Tilting his chair and putting his feet 
on the rostrum, he began to sharpen his pencil, act- 
ing for all the world like a typical whittling Yankee. 
And all the while there was a twinkle in his eye. 
He enjoyed a little fun hugely. 

Then the chairman opened his mouth again, and 
the Sunday question hopped out. Now, as in the 
previous instance, cautious steps were taken to lead 
up to the question to be put. After the fanaticism 
of the sects had been laid bare with unsparing 
tongue, the question was asked: 
"And now, what do you hold with reference to 
Sunday observance?" 

Brushing the pencil chips from his lap, Luther 
replied: 

"To sanctify the Sabbath day signifies to keep it 
holy. What, then, is implied by keeping it holy? 
Nothing else than to be employed in holy words and 
actions." 

Over the table went the heads once more in con- 
sultation long drawn out. This answer might be 
pure doctrine, and it might not be. Sabbath day! 
— a nose properly trained could scent heresy in the 
term itself. One of the audience, either an ex-editor 
of The Lutheran Witness or a man who 
resembled him very much, grew impatient and 
accosted the committee, saying, "Ach, pshaw, why 
waste time? That answer stands in the Large Cat- 
echism." The committee was not inclined to ques- 



A Fly in the Ointment 243 

tion the language of the Catechism, and so, this 
being dropped, the coast was clear for the next 
question. 

This was the question to determine the matter 
of Americanism — a hideous something like unto a 
nightmare, save that it does not rest by day, and 
so disturbs the equanimity of some otherwise very 
sane church people all the time. The spokesman 
rose, both to his feet and to the occasion. He waxed 
eloquent, and sarcastic, and caustic, and winsome, 
and forceful, and foolish in setting forth the advan- 
tages of German and the shortcomings of English. 
The vast treasure of orthodox lore in the German 
language and the beggarly number of Lutheran 
works in English was used to the utmost. Nor did 
he forget to say, and say repeatedly with slight 
variations, that "all English-speaking bodies have 
more or less heretical ideas under their hats." As 
for himself, he questioned if the true Lutheran doc- 
trine could ever be adequately expressed in English. 
"In fine," he concluded, "English is one of the 
greatest present-day perils of the Lutheran Church. ' ' 
Then, removing his eye-glasses and balancing them 
on the forefinger of his left hand, he straightened up 
«?* his full height, and shaking his right hand with 
index-finger extended, asked: 



*Greek e i ?, Hebrew *t V, Latin a d, German % U, 
English to. And now, believe me, gentle reader, it 
did hurt me sore to set that foreign type in the fore- 



244 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

"Now, what do you hold of the English?" 

"I hold England is a piece of Germany," Luther 
replied, "for they use the Saxon language as used 
in Westphalia and the Netherlands, although it is 
much corrupted. The Danish and the English lan- 
guages are Saxon, which is the genuine German. 
The Highland German is not the real German. It 
fills the mouth full and wide, and sounds — " 

"No, no, not that," broke in the examiner, throw- 
ing his arms up and striking an attitude of repul- 
sion. "We mean, what do you hold of the language 
question in the Church? Shall we educate our 
preachers in English also, or do you agree with those 
whose prudence dictates that the Church shall be 
kept German?" 

"I do not agree with those who apply themselves 
to one language and despise all the others," said 
Luther. "I would rather educate such young men 
and such a people as could also be useful in foreign 
countries and be able to converse with the people, 
so that it should not happen to us as it does to the 
Waldensians and the Bohemians, who have their 
faith so closely tied up in their own tongue that they 
are unable to talk correctly and intelligently with 
any one not acquainted with their language." 

going English text; but I had to do it for the sake of 
the learned. How otherwise would they know that this 
is a book? I do you to-wit: in the world, a book's a 
book, though there 's nothing in it ; but in the Church, 
a book is not a book unless there 's Greek and Latin in it. 



A Fly in the Ointment 245 

"But do you not see the danger to our doctrine 
and spirit in the transition from one language to 
the other? In pouring the good old wine into the 
new, and, let me add, inferior* cask, some is spilled, 
and the rest takes an unsavory tang from the 
cask. The wisest policy is to keep the Church Ger- 
man so long as possible, is it not?f That is our 
policy." 

"In the beginning the Holy Ghost did not operate 
in that manner," Luther replied in a tone that car- 
ried rebuke; "but He gave manifold tongues for the 
office of the ministry so that the apostles could 
preach wherever they might be. I would rather 
follow their example." 

Again the heads went over the table with quick, 
common impulse, and great wonder it was they did 
not bump together. The man behind me said of 
Luther in an undertone: "On him hops and malt are 
lost." The man whom I took to be an ex-editor of 
the Witness exclaimed: "He is right: 'the faith 



^Inferior, eh? <StorarfjtoifTettfdjafti§eitt*)ett, for 
instance, as a sample of superiority. Bosh! No consid- 
erate mortal of temperate habits would go to such 
lengths. — E d i t o r. 

t$ern fci e£ b after bon un§, bah toir un§ anftrcn^cn 
fofften, ennlifdj %vl toerben, obcr bttno^ ft r c 6 c n foKtett, 
unfere ©emcinben itnb (SJetneinbefdjulen in enaJPfdje ^u 
toertocmbeln. * * * SBeldje <5d\ai$ammetn ber redjtftfau&tgett 
$trdfje toiirben toir anfern Einbcrn toerfdjlteften. — @ b a it g.« 
2 u t ft. <S <ft u 1 6 I a i t. 



246 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

of the fathers in the language of the children!' 
that 's the only sensible slogan. ' ' There was consid- 
erable stir and hubbub all through the chamber. In 
a few minutes the noise subsided. Give them time, 
and men will always come to their senses — if they 
have any. The Missouri Synod in this land of 
ours has some use for the Yankee: like the 
Sunday-school, he is to her a necessary evil, for 
English, like the itch, is catching and it must be 
looked after. Eventually the committee was ready 
to move on. 

Then came the great question to test Lutheran 
orthodoxy — when Missouri does the testing. It was 
nothing less than predestination. Of course each 
synod in the land has a monopoly of orthodoxy, 
but the Missouri brotherhood overtops them all, 
because it has a monopoly of orthodoxy and a monop- 
oly of predestinarianism, to boot. If, like the kine 
in the dream, lean predestinarianism swallows Mis- 
souri's orthodoxy and grows none the fatter, no one 
need wonder. Missouri had no business to try to 
domesticate the thing which Calvinism has been try- 
ing to starve for, lo, these many years. This is the 
one thing in which Missouri and her Synodical Con- 
ference differ from all other Lutheran bodies. And 
a very troublesome thing it has proved to be. Ordi- 
narily little is now said about it. The common peo- 
ple do not understand it, anyhow, and so the rule 
is to preach the good old doctrine of salvation by 
faith. But, dearly beloved, a colloquium is a very 



A Fly in the Ointment 247 

different thing,* and a preacher must be proved in 
the distinctive doctrines. 

The question was led up to in a very guarded and 
cautious manner. It seemed as if the aim was to 
leave no avenue of escape open, and thus make the 
applicant accept Missouri's position or be a self- 
branded heretic. It was a shrewd manipulation of 
the situation. It was Missouri, and Missouri only, 
that gave God the glory for man's salvation: all the 
rest gave the glory to man, or divided it between 
God and man. They were synergists; and to the 
speaker Synergist was a sibilant word: he could 
make it hiss like a serpent and sizz like hell-fire. 
Luther was an intent listener all the while. The 
smile had faded from his lips. He had risen to his 
feet, and now stood behind his chair, clutching the 
back firmly with both hands. This was earnest busi- 
ness, not at all like the quibbling of a few moments ago. 

The speaker talked on, and on, and eventually 
came to the point in the whole controversy. He put 
the case into the concrete: "Did God elect me, as the 
synergistic Ohioans say, because God foresaw I 
would believe and remain constant, or was I brought 
to faith because I was elected, as we orthodox Mis- 
sourians say? That which God has — " 



*As Luther in one of his merry moods said of the 
learned preachers' conferences: "We make it so curled 
and finical that God himself wondereth at us." 

17 



248 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

"Avoid and flee such thoughts as a temptation of 
Satan, and instead look upon Christ. God protect 
you," Luther interjected. From his tone and bear- 
ing it was evident that this was a delicate subject 
to him. 

"This is a point now in controversy," said the 
chairman. "The cause of our conversion lies in the 
election, not — " 

"Begin below at Christ," Luther interrupted. He 
was growing testy. "Reason always begins to build 
at the roof and not at the bottom." 

"But it is a matter of present-day controversy. 
Doesn't our conversion lie in God's election?" 

"Begin below at Christ," Luther almost thundered. 
Then in milder tone: "It is sufficient for us to learn 
Christ in His humanity in which the Father has 
revealed himself. But we, like fools, will gabble 
and search after God's secrets: therefore, such as 
thereupon plunge themselves into despair are rightly 
served. ' ' 

"For," began the chairman, with affected dignity, 
straightening himself up to his full height, "for — " 

"For," said Luther, taking the drawled word from 
his lips and giving it impetus, "for if one should 
torment himself forever with predestination, he 
would reap nothing but dread. I have been well 
and thoroughly plagued and tormented with cogi- 
tations of predestination; but at last, God be praised, 
I clean left them. I took hold again of God's re- 
vealed Word. Higher I was not able to bring it." 



A Fly in the Ointment 249 

"But," persisted the chairman, whose patience was 
almost gone, "the question is, Whether God elected 
us to faith, or in view of faith?" 

"Begin below at Christ," Luther rejoined again, 
"then we both hear and find the Father. All those 
who began at the top have broken their necks." 
And as often as election was broached, he would 
reiterate: "Begin below at Christ!" Nothing could 
budge him from this position. And the great theo- 
logian was right: the man who begins with Christ 
crucified for us will not sink in the inky ocean of 
predestinarianism, that ocean on whose cliffs Calvin 
stood and gasped, "Horrible!" "Avoid and flee 
such thoughts as temptations of Satan," Luther said 
in conclusion. 

The chairman was nettled. He said: "We are 
not going beyond the safety line. Did not our 
father Luther write a book against Erasmus in 
which he dealt altogether with matters pertaining 
to this very subject? and did not our venerable and 
erudite Doctor Walther emulate him? and are we 
not doing likewise?" 

Now, thought I, the secret is out: Luther will 
have to disclose his identity. Instead, he was so 
much provoked that he began to denounce servile 
imitation as a dangerous thing, especially when the 
imitator does not measure as much around the head 
as the person imitated. He then told this to illus- 
trate his point: 

"An ape watched a farmer splitting a large log. 



250 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

Itching to imitate him, he seated himself upon a log 
and split it, but forgot to put in a wedge. He pulled 
out the ax, but his extremities were caught in the 
split and mashed so that he was a cripple all his 
life. Thus," said he, applying the moral, "it is 
with all imitators who have not the ability to fol- 
low the example they would copy, or undertake 
measures beyond their power to accomplish. ' ' 

Then, as if satisfied that this was enough on this 
point — and surely it was enough in quality and 
quantity — he recurred to the question of predestina- 
tion, and said: 

"But, my dear sir, do not devote yourself to such 
questions. Deal thou with the humanity of Christ. 
There you are certain that God sent His Son into 
the flesh." 

By this time, to use a phrase of the street, the 
chairman was warm under the collar, and the rest 
felt just as he did. Nor do I much blame them. 
This was rough handling. The chairman gave vent 
to his wrath: 

"You, sir, came here to be examined after apply- 
ing for admission to our synod in due and legal 
form, and we came here to examine you. Now you 
act the part of a dictator. Instead of recognizing 
our office and answering our questions with becom- 
ing modesty, you absurdly intrude lengthy instruc- 
tions and belittling illustrations. We are not 
here to be instructed by you. We want to elicit 
your — " 



A Fly in the Ointment 251 

"I do not think it will be an absurd intrusion, if 
I forget for a moment your greatness,* while I per- 
form an office of charity," Luther cut in with biting 
irony. Then he continued, little caring for the dis- 
pleasure which now showed itself on all sides: "Do 
not pry into things too high for you. He who is 
wise will stick to the track here staked off. God 
has given us His Son Jesus Christ: of Him we 
should think daily, and in Him we should see our- 
selves mirrored: there predestination will solve itself 
most beautifully. For aside from Christ, all is sheer 
danger, death and devil; but in Him all is unalloyed 
felicity. For if one should martyr himself forever 
with predestination he would have no reward but 
dread." 

There were signs of impatience and there was 
irksome shuffling of feet, but Luther kept on as if 
he were going to put in a hard day's work on what 
he had just called an office of charity: 

"Thus am I wont to quiet those who question me 
and want to know much about predestination: don't 
begin too high, else you will make a suicidal leap 
and break your neck; but go first to Bethlehem and 
seek the Christ-child in the manger, see how the 

♦Erasmus suggested "that an army of schoolmen 
be sent against the Turks, not in the hope that the Turks 
might be converted by them so much as that Christen- 
dom might be relieved by their absence." But who is 
this Erasmus that we should listen to him? Why, 
bless you, he is the man who made this sensible remark. 



252 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

mother of Christ fondles the Babe, how He died for 
you, how He suffered for you, and what He did for 
your sakes. On these things express yourselves and 
give account whosoever you may be, then will I 
reply to the question of predestination." 

Then one of the audience spoke up and asked: 
"Why is it that one man is converted and another 
is not, where both hear identically the same Word? 
Is it not simply because God did not elect the one? 
for as certainly as God is God, the man, if elected, 
would have had to believe and be converted; or do 
you hold with those who teach that God elected in 
view of faith?" 
"The reason why God elected this or that one 
should not be laid to the account of our Lord God, 
but to man," Luther answered. "He is to be given 
the blame, not God, for the promises are universal, 
given and certified to all men, be they who they may, 
without distinction. Now it is the will of God that 
all men be saved; hence it is not the fault of the 
Lord God, who promises it and who will certainly 
and faithfully do what He has promised, but our 
own, who do not want to believe it." Then, after a 
moment's pause, he supplemented: "In matters per- 
taining to foreordination, it is most profitable and 
best to begin below at Christ." 

There was something very satisfactory in this 
reply, unpalatable as it was. It at least entered 
upon the subject which the committee was bent on 
probing. The chairman, alert for every opportunity, 



A Fly in the Ointment 253 

was quick to perceive the trend which a few timely 
words might give the discussion. 

"It does not enter our minds to blame God for 
man's fall into sin, nor for his remaining in sin," 
he remarked, opening the sluice-gate to a flood of 
muddy theology; "but that some of these poor, lost 
souls are now saved depends upon the good and 
gracious will of God in electing them unto salvation. 
All is embraced in election. If God elects one, that 
one must come to faith as certainly as God is God. 
On the other hand, if God has not elected him, he 
cannot be saved. 'Many are called, but few are 
chosen — ' " 

He got no further. Luther raised his hand, and 
while his eyes flashed, he said in an emphatic tone 
that made the chills creep down one's back: 

"That is an especially wicked interpretation!" 
It froze the words on the chairman's lips. He 
stood silenced and appalled. Luther went on, speak- 
ing rapidly and with much feeling: 

"For if one holds and believes naught else of the 
Deity, how can it be possible that he should not be 
angry at God, whose will alone is to be blamed foi 
it that we are not all saved? But place these 
thoughts beside those which obtain when we first 
learn to know Christ the Lord, and we see that they 
are nothing but diabolical blasphemies. Conse- 
quently this passage, 'Many are called, but few are 
chosen,' has a far different meaning. The preach- 
ing of the Gospel is universal and public, — whoso- 



254 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

ever will may accept it; and God, therefore, also has 
it proclaimed so universally and publicly that every 
man should hear, believe, appropriate it and be 
saved. But what is the sequence? That which fol- 
lows in the Gospel: 'Few are chosen'; that is, few 
so conduct themselves toward the Gospel that God 
can be well pleased with them. For some hear it, 
and do not heed it; some hear it, and do not hold 
it fast, nor will they yield or sacrifice aught for it; 
some hear it, but care more for money, and goods, 
and worldly pleasure. But that does not please God 
and He does not want such people. That is what 
Christ calls not being chosen, that is, not conducting 
themselves so that God may be pleased with them. ' ' 
The faces of the auditors were white with excite- 
ment. The silence was intense, almost painful, like 
the lull before a storm. That little speech showed 
plainly enough that Luther did not stand with Mis- 
souri on the dogma of predestination; but the chair 
man had another question, evidently for the purpose 
of eliciting whether the applicant stood with Mis- 
souri's opponents. 

"Now tell us," said he, "without any ifs, ands or 
buts, whether you hold that God from all eternity 
elected a certain man to salvation because He fore- 
saw that this man would believe and persevere in 
faith?" 

All the brethren craned their necks and pricked 
their ears. 

"The reason why God elected this or that one 



A Fly in the Ointment 255 

should not be charged to the account of God, but to 
man," began Luther. 

"That 's not to the point now," broke in one. 

"Nay," piped another, "stick to this matter of 
God's foreknowledge in its relation to predestina- 
tion. Take the case of those who fall away and ex — ' ' 

"Because it was foreknown that they would fall," 
Luther hastened to reply, "they were not predes- 
tinated. But they would have been predestinated 
had they returned and persevered in holiness and 
truth. ' ' 

Confusion reigned for a few moments. Epithets 
were heard on all sides. Synergist, Pelagian, 
Ohioan and other verbal pets of Missouri buzzed 
about our ears. 

Straightway the chairman announced the result 
of the colloquy: "Say we not right, thou art an 
Ohioan? We want none such. Thou art a heretic!" 
In the midst of the din Luther had got his hat, 
and now stood near the door. Without a word in 
reply, he went out, evidently disgusted with the 
whole thing. When I joined him he said curtly, but 
with a strain of sorrow in his voice: 

"They are proud and haughty spirits!" 
We walked down the street, neither of us saying 
a word. There was so much to think of, and it was 
nearly all unpleasant. Luther finally broke the 
silence. He had been reflecting on his experience 
with the synods in this country. 

"It happens to me as it did to the old man and his 



256 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

son with the mule," said he. "Do what I may, it 
will not answer. It is always Mr. Wiseacre who 
comes and bridles the horse at the rump. ' ' 

But the humor of the situation soon asserted itself 
and Luther grew merry. What struck him as espe- 
cially ludicrous was the fact that the Missouri 
Synod, which prates so much about its Luther loy- 
alty, had unwittingly declared him to be a heretic. 
And his humor on this point was to the king's taste. 
As I bade him good-bye, he said with a twinkle in 
his eye: 

"Wnen you get home, tell the people that you have 
shaken hands with Doctor Luther, the greatest 
heretic." 

As his street-car moved away, I stood on the cor- 
ner wondering what would be the result of the col- 
loquy with the Joint Synod of Ohio and Other 
States, which was next on the list. 

A few days later I joined him at the farmhouse 
where we were to spend the holidays with some col- 
lege folk. 





XIV. THE MENDING OF A BACHELOR 

Heap on more wood ! the wind is chill ; 

But let it whistle as it will, 

We'll keep our Christmas merry still. — Scott. 

ROXIE, he 's just the nicest nice 
bachelor! ' ' exclaimed Mame to her 
college chum. "There, tuck the 
blanket under the seat this way: 
the sled '11 soon start. He 's a 
second cousin of ours. Don't you 
remember, I was telling you about 
**} him the night Xantippe caught us 
up after the retiring-bell had been rung and Nan 
crawled under the bed?" 
"Oh, yes," Roxie replied with a merry laugh. 
"That was the night Xantippe spoiled an oyster 
supper and a couple of embryo matches, and just 
looked as if she took a fiendish delight in it all. 
Say, the horrid thing could devour a dozen of the 
sweetest love affairs, couldn't she, and then look just 
as sour as a professor of mathematics when a body 
hasn't got out the Trig stint. Ugh! Say, Mame, 
did a mathematical prof ever give you the ague?" 

"But, Roxie, that bachelor cousin of mine is just 
fine. Say, he 's a better catch than that chum 
brother has brought home this vacation; and he 's 
got money — loads of it." 

(257) 



258 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

"Just as if a body could n't see how your brother's 
big chum admires you. Why a little boy sucking 
his thumb and gawking into a window full of Christ- 
mas toys isn't a bit more transparent. Bet — No, 
Xantippe says that 's vulgar. Guess — Pshaw! 
rhetoric teacher says that is n't precise. Well, I 'm 
just sure he begged Frank to bring him up here. 
Oh, you sly thing, maybe you are putting up a light- 
ning-rod for protection against me. But you 
need n't: I don't like red hair and big feet — they 're 
just horrid!" 

"Maybe brother Frank was n't anxious about your 
coming, and maybe I can't see anything at all," 
Mame retorted. "But, Roxie, cousin Van 's not more 
than thirty-five, and he 's an Apollo, and a Chester- 
field, and I don't know what all, done up in one 
bundle, and neatly done up, too, for he looks like 
those pictures of the masculine genus you see on 
fashion-plates — just so. Oh, it gives me a pain. To 
tell truth, I do think that 's what ails him, for 
where is the girl that can love a chap that seems 
made just to look at, not even to touch a wee bit 
with the end of your finger? Like a wax figure — 
might soil it, don't you know. Poor fellow! Say, 
Roxie, if he 's home when we get there, and he 
promised sure, I want you to break in on his reserve, 
and — just make him surrender. And then, if you 
don't want the prisoner, or aren't captured by the 
said prisoner, why the way 's open for some other 
nice girl. See?" 



The Mending of a Bachelor 259 

"Sure. Why, Mame Kraemer, do you think I 
don't know it 's a reflection on the sex to have one 
man in the world whom some woman can't catch 
and domesticate?" 

"But he 's a lion, or a tiger, or a something hor- 
rible! Mother says he 's incorrigible." 

"In-cor-ri-gi-ble!" exclaimed Roxie, imitating the 
seminary matron, "that 's what Xantippe says when 
she spies us waving a hand at a senior from a dorm 
window — just as if a body could help it! But I 'm 
dreadfully interested. If he 's there, if the train is n't 
snow-bound, or if it is n't wrecked, or if he hasn't been 
waylaid, or if he has n't backed out, Why I '11 — " 

"What plotting is this?" cried Frank, throwing a 
buffalo robe into the sled. "Been hunting you high 
and low." 

"Your cheeks ought to burn with shame for sneak- 
ing away," added Frank's big chum, as he rubbed 
Mame's face with snow. 

"Jack Williams, you are nothing but a big bear," 
she protested. 

"A cinnamon-bear," Roxie added. "Some Italian 
ought to lead you around by a — " An application 
of snow ended the sentence. 

Then there was a lot of mock scolding from both 
girls till the older members of the company, includ- 
ing Luther, came with the little folks, and then, in 
a trice, the bob-sled glided over the road to the 
jingling of bells, bearing one of the merriest parties 
that left the church that Christmas eve. 



260 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

The college folk kept up an animated conversa- 
tion of hashed sense and nonsense, and Mr. Kraemer 
and Luther, who was sitting on the front seat with 
him, talked of religious matters. The service, with 
its old-time carols, had been a delight to Luther; 
and the church, with its high altar, statues and pic- 
tures, was a very homelike place to him. He spoke 
in praise of the church and was amazed when his 
companion informed him that there was consider- 
able objection to church decorations of this char- 
acter. He at once called attention to the illustrated 
books and Bibles which these people use. 
"So we kindly ask them," he said, "graciously to 
concede us the privilege of doing what they them- 
selves do, that we may paint these pictures upon 
walls for the sake of commemoration and instruc- 
tion, inasmuch as they do as little harm upon walls 
as in books. It is better that we portray upon walls 
how God created the world, Noah built the ark, and 
what other good histories there are, than that we 
limn there any sort of worldly or shameful thing. 
Yes, would to God, I could persuade the lords and 
the rich to have the whole Bible painted on the 
inside and outside of houses before the eyes of all 
men. That would be a Christian work." 

The conversation on the front seat was punctured 
by peals of laughter from the rear. Roxie was cast- 
ing a horoscope for Mame and had traced it to the 
point where fate with wings and a dart, guided by 
a brilliant star, would throw Mame into the arms 



The Mending of a Bachelor 261 

of a cinnamon-bear. It was the cinnamon-bear's 
ingenious comment that threw the company into 
convulsions of laughter. "Joy and peace are also 
fine and noble gifts of God," Luther remarked, and 
then continued his argument. 
"Thus I know also with certitude that God wants 
us to hear and read of His works — especially the 
suffering of Christ. But if I am to hear it or recall 
it, it is impossible for me not to form a picture of 
it in my heart. For whether I will it or not, when 
Christ is mentioned an image is cast in my heart in 
the form of a man hanging upon a cross, just as my 
face is naturally mirrored in water when I gaze into 
it. Now if it be not sinful, but good, that I have 
Christ's likeness in my heart, why should it be a sin 
when I have it before my eyes, inasmuch as heart 
is accounted more than eyes? But I must stop forth- 
with, else I might give the iconoclasts occasion to 
read the Bible — nevermore!" 

In the rear, the astrological jest had grown into 
earnest discussion and the coquettish Roxie, who 
had almost as much antipathy to being dead in 
earnest as to being dead in a coffin, began to quote 
Byron in winsome tone and manner for the sake of 
putting an end to it all: 

"Ye stars! which are the poetry of Heaven, 

If in your bright leaves we would read the fate 

Of men and empires, — 'tis to be forgiven 
That, in our aspirations to be great, 

Our destinies o'erleap their mortal state, 



262 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

And claim a kindred with you; for ye are 
A beauty and a mystery, and create 

In us such love and reverence from afar, 
That fortune, fame, power, life, 

Have named themselves a star." 

But Mr. Williams, who had the study of law in 
view and was born with a lawyer's instincts, was 
not to be baffled thus. He appealed to Father Mar- 
tin as the court of last resort. Luther laughed, and 
said: 

"At times one must let learned pates have their 
nonsense and pastime. So, if the abuse and super- 
stition were left off, it would not especially provoke 
me if an individual were to employ himself with 
such horoscopes for the sake of entertainment. But 
concerning the matter per se, I will never allow 
myself to be persuaded that we should classify 
astrology with the liberal arts, and that for this 
reason: it has no good proof." 

"Beg pardon," broke in Miss Kraemer with con- 
siderable earnestness, "but astrological predictions 
have been fulfilled." 

"That they cite testimony," Luther replied, "pre- 
sents no difficulty to me, because these astrological 
verifications are nothing but isolated instances; and 
those who were versed in the art have noted and 
recorded only those which did not fail. But the 
others — those in which the stellar influences did not 
operate as they said they would — they have not 
recorded. As Aristotle holds that one swallow does 



The Mending of a Bachelor 



not make a summer, so I also maintain that one can- 
not base a real and complete art on such isolated 
observations." 

"But," interrupted Frank, "the moon has an influ- 
ence on the ebb and flow of the tide and also on the 
insane. Then why should moon and planets not 
have an influence upon all men — govern character, 
and thus have much to do with the course of life?" 

"I hold nothing of it," said Luther, "concede it 
nothing at all. But I should like them to meet this 
argument: Esau and Jacob were born of the same 
father and mother at the same time and under like 
planetary aspect and were nevertheless of opposite 
character, nature and disposition." 

No one attempted a solution. A moment later, 
one of the young ladies started a Christmas hymn, 
and the others soon took part. 

"Music is one of the noblest arts," Luther re- 
marked to his companion. "The two exercises and 
pastimes which I like best are music and gymnastics. 
The former dispels all care and melancholy thoughts, 
while the latter produces physical agility and pre- 
serves health." 

A moment later he was participating in the hymn. 
The horses started a faster gait, and songs to the 
Infant Redeemer floated out on the chill night air 
above the clamor of the sleigh-bells, till the lane 
which led to the farmhouse was reached. 

"0 Mame, can he dance?" Roxie asked. She was 
18 



264 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

thinking of Vanmeter. The monstrosity was shortly 
to be confronted. 

"Oh, do hold your tongue — bite it," whispered 
Mame. "Preacher to the right of us, preacher 
to the left of us: think of the fate of the loyal six 
hundred. ' ' 

But it was too late. A word out of the mouth is 
like a bird out of the cage. Frank was two years in 
his theological course, which made him feel that this 
manifestation of the flesh ought to be rebuked, and 
two weeks in love with Roxie, which made him feel 
as if he could not administer the rebuke. But love 
makes even a theologue crafty. He kept his equili- 
brium between conscience and policy by blurting out: 

"A homily on dancing is in order. These girls 
can't keep their toes still. Let's — " His mother 
put her hand on his mouth. But Luther forthwith 
picked up the cudgel. 

"These enumerated manifestations," he had men- 
tioned evidences of impurity, "never occur with 
greater frequency or grossness than at public dances. 
It cannot be told how many sins are committed there 
and how great they are, what eye and ear imbibe, 
what lecherous touch and twittering bring. In short, 
world is world." 

"Why," said Roxie in the arch way she had, "why 
even the innocent little children dance for joy." 

And Luther, not to be outdone, responded with 
the air of a courtier: "Do that, too; become a little 
child, and dancing will not harm you. ' ' Diplomacy, 



The Mending of a Bachelor 265 

be it remembered, is the art that administers worm- 
wood as if it were honey. 

"It 's all fun," said the little mother. "The girls 
haven't learned dancing at school." 

She did not know that college students learn 
some things that are not in the curriculum. 

The sled had hardly stopped when the little folks 
began to scamper out. Luther seemed to regret 
that the children's service was over and that the 
little church lay so far behind, for, as he rose from 
his seat, he said: 

"The whole world has nothing better, nothing more 
precious, nothing finer, than the dear church in 
which we hear God's Word and where He is honored 
with real worship." 

A moment later our spry old father was helping 
the ladies out of the sled — a new role, thought I, for 
the hero of Worms. But if ever a domestic heart 
beat under a man's coat, it was Luther's, as I should 
shortly see. 

Blankets were hastily thrown over the horses and 
the whole company, big and little, rushed into the 
house, redolent with pine and pastry — especially 
pungent with ginger cookies of generous size, in the 
form of roosters, rabbits and horses, such as my own 
mother used to bake. No Christmas has the right 
odor for me without them. This family had an old- 
fashioned German Christmas. There were plates of 
good things and presents for all in the sitting-room. 
And you may be sure that the little mother was the 



266 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

last to leave the house for the church. Who brought 
it all? Christkindchen. And, among other 
things, he brought Luther a lathe and tools for wood- 
turning, no doubt because Luther had incidentally 
expressed a fondness for that sort of work. It was 
a pleasure to see his gratitude and glee. 

The children huddled around Luther and he must 
needs pat Lena's doll on the head, show Martin how 
to shoot with the crossbow, and toot Hans's horn 
again and again. Then Hans got his ABC book 
and Luther took him on his knee and began to teach 
him his letters. Placing him on the floor and pat- 
ting him on the head, he said to him and his little 
sister, who had come to show how well she could 
read: 

"Have a care to continue diligently as you have 
begun. Thus you are doing something that not 
only pleases your father, who loves you, but 
which will also benefit you greatly. For God, who 
has commanded that children should heed their 
parents, has also promised blessing to obedient 
children." 

A few minutes later he was actually romping with 
the little ones, and he a runaway monk with gray in 
his hair! Ah, it was a scene to scandalize the Pope 
and please angels! 

"Since we are preaching to children, we must also 
prattle with them," he said, and it was a word of 
gold. "When Christ wished to teach men he became 
a man. If we are to teach children, we must become 



The Mending of a Bachelor 267 

children. Would to God, we had more of this child's 
play." 

In the Christmas cheer and excitement everybody 
had forgotten Vanmeter— everybody but Roxie, and 
in a whisper she asked: 

"Mame, where 's the lion?" 

"Where is he?" asked Mame aloud, addressing the 
farm-hand. 

"In the kitchen," he replied mechanically. 

Arm in arm they hurried to the kitchen. At the 
door Roxie stepped back. 

"Oh, you mean thing!" she exclaimed, giving 
Mame a push. "Your Croesus has a coat as piebald 
as Joseph's, and your Apollo has a bald pate and a 
gray beard. Set my cap for him? Ugh!" 
The hired man was called to account. 

"He's an old clock-mender," he explained, "and 
wants to stay over night" 

There was a hurried consultation. The house 
was full, but the little mother insisted on lodging 
the wayfarer. When there is room in the heart, 
there is room in the house. And then the old man 
must take part in the festivities. As he entered the 
room, it was noticed that his cheeks were tear- 
stained. Sad memories must have touched the wan- 
derer's heart. He sat with folded hands, staring at 
the ancient grandfather's clock in the opposite 
corner. 

Luther had Hans on his lap and the other little ones 
around his knees, and had been telling them about, 



268 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

oh, such a beautiful garden, in which he had seen 
ever so many children in golden coats and with fine 
little horses with golden bridles and silver saddles. 
And the little tot, who had been named Hans Luther 
after one of the Reformer's children, was greatly 
delighted. Luther now finished the interrupted 
story: 

"And I asked the man, 'Whose children are they?' 
He replied, 'These are the children who like to pray 
and learn and are pious.' Then I said, 'My good 
man, I have a son; his name is Hans Luther; may not 
he also come to this garden to eat such nice apples 
and pears, and ride such fine little horses, and play 
with these children?' and the man said, 'If he 
likes to pray and learn and is pious, he shall come 
to this garden.' Therefore, fear God and obey your 
parents. ' ' 

The wanderer had not taken his eyes from the 
old timepiece. 

"Madam, think you not 'tis a fine piece of the 
clockmaker's art you have there?" he asked. 

"Yes, we think so," answered the little mother 
modestly. 

"And whence did it come?" 

"From Germany." 

"Your father sent it you in 1860?" 

"Yes." 

"It has been in the family since before the Thirty 
Years' War, has it not?" 

"Yes," she answered amazed. 



The Mending of a Bachelor 269 

"And there is a writing— an inscription— on the 
pendulum: Johann Jacob Lichtenberg, eh, 
not so?" 

"Yes," faltered the little woman, fear-stricken, like 
one in the presence of a wizard or a spirit. 

"May I look?" 

And suiting the action to the word, he opened the 
case. 

"Gretchen, my dear daughter!" he exclaimed. 

The little mother flew to his arms and clung to 
his neck, and there was much joy mingled with tears. 
The old widower had come hither in 1861, enlisted 
in the war, and was reported killed in battle; later 
the Kraemers moved West, and now the panic had 
overtaken him. That is the tale, in thirty words or 
thirty chapters — just as you will. His appearance 
at this time made the happiest Christmas the little 
mother had ever known. Luther withdrew. Mr. 
Williams and the hired man helped him into the 
kitchen with his lathe. The rest, save the little 
folks, hilarious over their new grandpa, went into 
another room. 

A half -hour later, at the shrill whistle of a loco- 
motive, Mame jumped to her feet. "That 's Van: the 
train 's late!" she exclaimed. 

"Let 's go to meet him," Frank proposed, for the 
same reason that prompted him to coax Mame to 
have Roxie spend her Christmas vacation under 
their parental rooftree. 

"Oh, no," said Roxie, "it 's only a step from the 



270 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

junction; and, besides, Mame and I have set a trap 
for him. No advances: our victory must be 
complete. ' ' 

Had Frank been able to analyze his feelings, he 
would have discovered that his pang at that moment 
was the first touch of jealousy. 

Later, both damsels ran to answer the door-bell; 
both stood aghast and blocked the way when Mame 
had opened the door. 

"For the land's sake!" cried Roxie. 

"Where did you get it?" asked Mame, lifting one 
corner of the shawl in a gingerly manner from the 
top end of the bundle. 

"And it 's got red hair," blurted Roxie. 

"Blame it, let me in," said the disgusted man. 
Vanmeter was a fine specimen of humanity, six 
feet one in his stockings, well built, raven-black hair, 
and finely featured withal; but at this moment, as 
he stood on the threshold, beslobbered and bedrag- 
gled, with a baby screaming at high pressure, he was 
one of the most humiliated mortals that ever begged 
entrance to a shelter. 

Indoors his reception was not much better. After 
the first moments of surprise, the young folks kept 
up incessant volleys of raillery. To add to the mer- 
riment, the baby ceased crying when it got a glimpse 
of Vanmeter' s face, and called him papa, pitifully, 
almost frantically, again and again. This seemed 
to be the only word it knew. But it would not keep 
quiet in any other person's arms. There was noth- 



The Mending of a Bachelor 271 

ing left the poor fellow, who had run over to 
Kraemer's for an evening's pleasure, but to walk 
the floor with his charge and take the jibes 
of a hilarious company. And he did it with all 
of the discomfort and awkwardness of a confirmed 
bachelor. 

Frank asserted that Vanmeter was a good-looking 
pater familias; Mame suggested that he croon 
a lullaby; and Roxie said it looked enough like the 
cinnamon-bear to be his nephew. 

"Great Scott, no!" protested the coming attorney. 
"But this is a likely story of Vanmeter's. Let us 
see, gentlemen of the jury. The defendant got this 
baby at the junction: a woman gave it to him to hold 
while she went back to the train to get her luggage. 
Then the train pulled out with the woman on board, 
of course. Why did n't the gentleman use ordinary 
politeness and get said luggage? Humph, a likely 
story indeed. Furthermore, the child aforesaid 
claims filial relationship, the defendant at the bar 
denies it: that is innocence against the secretary of 
a trust. Then he alleges the woman was a young 
widow. Of course she was young; but how does he 
know she was a widow? "Wore crape and black 
clothes. Whew! couldn't have borrowed them for 
the occasion? At best, gentlemen of the jury, the 
defendant has been buncoed, and we — " 

"Anyhow," interrupted Roxie, "he 's got a gold 
brick." 

"What is fun for the cat is death for the mouse," 



272 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

said Luther, who had been attracted to the sitting- 
room by all this hubbub. 

He gazed fondly on the babe, which was evidently 
a waif. 

"Thou dear child," he said, chucking it under the 
chin. "My heart already beats with love towards 
thee who hast not yet done anything to call it forth. 
Now I can understand how God's love towards us 
poor creatures precedes our love. He does not wait 
till we come to Him with our love, but He comes 
to us." 

Then he turned to the company and remarked: 

"There is great sacredness about little children. 
Of them the Scriptures say, 'Their angels do always 
behold the face of My Father which is in heaven.' 
I would give all the honor I have had and shall have 
had I died at the age of this babe. A child's life is 
the happiest: it has no temporal cares, knows noth- 
ing of the disturbers of the Church, has no fear of 
death or hell, and has nothing but pure and happy 
fancies." 

He seemed to sympathize with Vanmeter the 
moment his eyes rested upon him, and was not 
minded even to let the young people twit him on his 
bachelordom. 

"Who would coerce into matrimony one who does 
not need it?" he asked. "He who is so endued that 
he can receive this word (St. Matthew nineteen, 
twelve), let him stay out of the married state and 
rejoice in the Lord. Just as those who are not 



The Mending of a Bachelor 273 

called to govern, remain subjects, and those not 
called to teach in the Church remain laymen, so it 
also is in this matter. Those who are not con- 
strained by the weakness of nature, but are such as 
can get along without matrimony, do right by stay- 
ing out of it and not loading themselves with bur- 
dens which they may readily avoid." 

That was kind, to be sure; but it was unlike 
Luther. More like him was it to say, when the little 
mother brought water to clean the blushing Van- 
meter's coat: 

"Oh, how much more must the Lord endure from 
us than a mother from her child!" 

At the table — f or our happy hostess had insisted 
that we all dine again with Vanmeter and her father 
in honor of the latter 's home-coming — Hans and the 
baby cut high pranks. Hans soon conquered and 
was permitted to sit beside the "preacher-man." 
The baby in Mrs. Kraemer's arms screamed and 
kept on screaming. 

"Scream lustily and defend yourself," said Luther: 
"the Pope also had me bound, but I am again free 
from his toils. When babies cry good and loud, 
they grow nicely, for by means of their crying 
veins and muscles are developed. They have no 
other exercise." 

Like Hans, the infant finally conquered and was 
placed in a high chair at the side of "Papa" Van- 
meter, as Mr. Williams persisted in dubbing him. 

Conversation hopped with agility from one thing 



274 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

to another. Table-talk, like gossip, is one of the 
fleas of conversation. Among other things, Luther 
related some papistic anecdotes. The fact that he 
had just disclosed Roman Catholic antecedents 
gave rise to the request. One I remember. It was 
about an indolent lout of a priest: 

"A lazy priest, instead of reciting his breviary, 
used to run over the alphabet, and then say: '0 my 
God, take this alphabet and put it together as you 
list!' " 

That fit nicely into the Roman doctrine of human 
merit. The beggar gave the good Lord, whose are 
the cattle on a thousand hills, a blank check, already 
signed, to draw what he would! 

The theologue spoke of the deceptions practiced 
by the monks aforetime. 

"It was a wicked and horrible delusion," said 
Luther. "It was believed that if one put on a 
monk's cowl he would be redeemed from sin and 
death. Thus they compared — aye, preferred the 
lousy monk's cowl to the precious blood of Christ 
There were colossal superstitions and idolatries in 
Popedom of which the young people now know noth- 
ing, and in ten years no one will believe that people 
made arrangements to be buried in cowls. As long 
as three hundred years agone, a president of the 
provincial court of Thuringia provided for being 
laid out in a cowl; and when he was placed in his 
coffin, the servants came, ere it was closed, to view 
the remains, and said: 'See how pious our lord is 



The Mending of a Bachelor 275 

now, and how nicely he keeps the vow of silence!' 
But he had been a rake all his life. Pooh, you mis- 
erable devil!" 

Mr. Williams noted a similarity between the 
Greeks and their gods and the Romanists and their 
saints. He thought the Papists were "up to the 
tick of the clock with their spiritual specialists.' ' 
Luther laughed and said: 

"As his assignment, St. Vitus has the abominable 
dancing and hopping. Likewise St. Erasmus is the 
patron of misers, but only in case they give him 
prayers and candles when he bestows wealth in 
abundance. For what else would the idle man have 
to do? St. Louis, he of the barefoot order, once 
made bad beer good, and now, that he is dead and 
blessed, he must be our brewer — this and noth- 
ing else is he allowed to do. St. Wendelin was an 
excellent herdman, and now he is more valuable 
against wolves than all the dogs are. While he 
lived, he watched his own cattle, but now that he 
is dead, he must be every man's cowboy. Saint — " 

"Pray, have they no women saints worth mention- 
ing?" Roxie interposed, and then went on, one-third 
in jest and two-thirds in earnest, to berate men for 
being selfish. 

Luther's eyes sparkled as he retorted: 

"I heartily wish the day were here when women 
would pray before they begin to preach." 
Roxie joined in the laugh at her expense. 

"Now we shall also add a few holy women," he 



276 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

said. "St. Scholastica, it is held, has command over 
thunder. St. Apollonia is revered without ceas- 
ing for the toothache and for nothing else. Thirdly, 
St. Julia and St. Atilia are eye-doctors, for nobody 
worships them save those who have bad eyes. But 
enough. Let us talk about other things." 

The young men were soon bandying political 
questions back and forth and happened to touch 
on communism. 

"Communism is not according to the law of na- 
ture," Luther observed. "It is not something that 
is commanded, but something that is allowed. And 
even though it were a law, it could not be kept up 
on account of ruined nature, for there would be more 
to consume goods than to gather them, and so em- 
barrassment would result." 

The spicy and rather personal remarks of the 
young ladies on the vocations of men, gave little 
Hans occasion to say: 

"When I get big, I 'm going to be a preacher-man." 

"No, my child," the father replied, "one preacher 
in the family is enough. My little Hans will be a 
farmer, and drive old Nell, and take big red straw- 
berries to town and bring back big silver dollars." 
The little codger began to cry. 
This incident gave rise to some talk on child 
training. 

"If you have a child capable of learning," Luther 
observed in a general way, "you are not free to 
bring him up as you please, or deal with him accord- 



The Mending of a Bachelor 277 

ing to your caprice, but you must bear in mind that 
you are under obligations to God to promote both 
spiritual and secular government and to serve Him 
in this way. God needs pastors, preachers and 
teachers in His spiritual kingdom, and you can fur- 
nish them. If you do not, you rob, not a poor man 
of his coat, but the kingdom of God of many souls.' ' 

"Some parents," the father interposed, "are too 
poor to educate their sons for the holy ministry." 

"If the father is poor," Luther rejoined, "let the 
youth be aided with the means of the Church. The 
rich should make bequests to such objects, as some 
have done by founding scholarships. That is giv- 
ing money to the Church in a right way." 

But Hans was still disturbing the peace with pro- 
tests and wailings, as the children of well-regulated 
families are prone to do when a bachelor is being 
entertained, and his mother was threatening to whip 
him into subjection, just as mothers are wont to do 
on such occasions. 

"What must be forced with rods and blows will 
have no good result," Luther told the mother in an 
aside. Then he assured Hans that if the good Lord 
wanted him to be a preacher He would provide ways 
and means. "Such providential care is witnessed 
every day," he said. "Of a penniless pupil who is 
industrious and pious God often makes a great 
doctor." 

But the child, satisfied in the main, now pestered 
Luther with questions as to how God would assist 



278 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

him. Would He send the money in a bag, or in a 
pocketbook, or how? 

Vanmeter had taken no part in the conversation. 
He had to watch his plate. The bit of red-haired 
humanity would reach into his food and persist in 
laying its sloppy hands on his sleeve. In short, 
Vanmeter was very meek; in fact, a fine specimen 
of overripe meekness. Now and then, with shame- 
facedness, he helped the baby to food; and once, 
much to the amusement of Mr. Williams and 
Frank, he had even given it a drink from his 
cup. After supper, Vanmeter took his ward to 
the sitting-room and Luther returned to the 
kitchen. 

"Well, old chap, you 've been buncoed sure," said 
Frank. 

Vanmeter made no reply. The baby said papa, 
and he pressed its head against his cheek, and it 
laughed. 

"Well, it 's not so bad after all," counseled Mr. 
Kraemer in his philosophical tone, which he kept, 
like his Sunday clothes, for extra occasions. "If the 
woman does n't turn up to-morrow, we can send the 
young one over to the county home." 

"Not by a long shot!" exclaimed Vanmeter in a 
tone that betokened offence. 

"Never mind, Van, we '11 keep it," the little mother 
said assuringly. 

"No, you will not!" he exclaimed with warmth. 
"I'm going to keep him myself. Yes, I know 



The Mending of a Bachelor 279 

mother is old and it would be a shame to ask her 
to raise another child. But I can get a nurse — a 
dozen of them. Auntie, let me confess: I like 
babies, and — I — I like this one. Auburn hair is 
pretty. Never looked into the window of a dry- 
goods store and saw the tiny woolen shirts and the 
wee little socks, but I wished I had a little fellow 
like this to fill them out And many a time at night, 
sitting all alone by the fire and smoking, with the 
wind whistling around the chimney and the tobacco 
smoke curling up over my head, I looked through 
its clouds and circles and saw my little chap crawl 
over the floor; saw him at school, the prettiest and 
smartest one there; saw him sick, and the little white 
coffin in the undertaker's window made my heart 
ache; saw him graduated from college and take an 
honorable part in the affairs of men; and — auntie, 
you don't know how far a fellow can see through 
smoke — I 've seen him win battles, write immortal 
books, paint undying canvases, sway multitudes, 
and go down to an honored grave; and fifty years 
later — ah, a fellow can see far through a good 
havana — I 've seen the blackberry brambles crawl 
over his turf -covered bed and hide the inscription; 
and then, when the vision was gone, there was a 
lump in my throat and a longing in my heart for 
that boy. No, auntie, you are real kind; but I 'm 
going to keep this baby: he just fits into my heart — 
makes it sort o' snug." 

19 



280 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

That ended the jesting. Unwittingly he had 
made a halo for himself. 
"0 Mame, he's no monster at all," whispered 
Roxie. "I just adore him." 

The days of Vanmeter's hachelordom were 
numbered. 

Luther came in from the kitchen with a lot of 
toys he had turned for the children, and great was 
their glee. He played with the baby, and it seemed 
to be satisfied now with its surroundings and finally 
allowed him to take it into his arms. Then he 
walked the floor with it, singing a cradle-song which 
he had composed for his own children: 

"Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, 
The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head." 

The little mother suggested that we go into the 
parlor and light the tree. 

"Gretchen, I 'm going to fix the clock first," said 
the old man. 

"Not on this holy eve, father?" 

"Ah, yes; so I promised for supper and bed, and so 
I would have it for old-time's sake. Know you not 
how grandfather used to do this night? When this 
old clock struck twelve, and Christ and the apostles 
came out of that little door at the top, and the rooster 
flapped his wings and crowed, he would say: 'Now, 
one half -hour yet; when the rooster crows again, all 
must hie to bed!' Then the chimes in our old church 
tower would play — how their melody clings to one's 



The Mending of a Bachelor 281 

heart — and when the tin wings rattled again, yon 
all scampered off to bed. Besides, it may only mean 
a few minutes' work." 

The baby had fallen asleep and Luther laid it on 
the bed in the adjoining room. Vanmeter stole in 
to look at it. Perhaps the little white coffin came 
into his vision. 

As the aged sire lifted one of the clock's weights 
it slipped from his hand and crashed through the 
bottom of the case. 

"Eh, what 's this!" he exclaimed, pulling a time- 
stained document from the hole and holding it up 
to the light. "A paper from the time of the Thirty 
Years' War! Well, well! Children," said he, as 
his eyes ran over the document, "a fortune is hid 
in the sand under that false bottom. 'Twas put there 
by one of our forebears — willed to his lawful heirs. 
A curse, a thousand times multiplied, upon him who 
finds it and withholds it from them!" 

Trembling hands took a pile of gold coin from 
the clock and placed it on the table. 

"A Christmas gift for grandfather," said the little 
mother delighted. 

"And now," declared grandfather, "little Hans- 
chen can go to the university and be a preacher-man. ' ' 

"God provides," Luther added sententiously, lay- 
ing his hand on the boy's head. "God provides." 
The door-bell rang. 

"What, so late?" queried our hostess. 
It was baby's mother, a pretty, little auburn- 



282 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

haired woman, who proved to be well-bred, a gradu- 
ate of Vassar, and the widow of Senator Hardy, the 
principal stockholder in the steel mill at Roseurban. 

When Mrs. Kraemer took her into the bedcham- 
ber to see the child, Vanmeter examined an oil-paint- 
ing. He did not want the company to see his tears. 
And when Mrs. Hardy told the little mother that 
the man was the exact counterpart of her departed 
husband, she did not know what pathos that revealed 
to Mrs. Kraemer in baby's conduct nor why her 
eyes should fill with tears. When they returned, 
Mrs. Hardy was carrying the baby, and the little 
mother said: 

"Now we must go into the parlor and light the 
tree. It is the happiest Christmas eve that any of 
us has seen." 

Vanmeter was sure it was not. And Roxie was 
in doubt about it. 

The tree was lighted, hymns were sung, and 
Luther told the Bethlehem evangel as only he could 
do it, and then there were carols, duets and quartets. 
Suddenly grandpa arose. He had heard the flap- 
ping of the tin chanticleer's wings. 
"Now, off to bed," said he in the tone of his father. 
"No, father, please don't make us go yet — no, not 
till we all sing — 

'Now thank we all our God, 

With hearts, and hands, and voices,' " 

pleaded the little mother much, I imagined, as she 



The Mending of a Bachelor 



283 



was wont to do as a child. And, with Mame at the 
piano, we made the old hymn ring till the very 
rafters tingled with human gratitude to God. 



A year and a half later, I pulled rein at a country 
parsonage in Wisconsin. It was Frank Kraemer's. 

"What has become of Vanmeter?" I asked, 

"He's living at Roseurban: married the little 
widow." 

"And where is Roxie, the girl with the sparkling 
eyes?" 

"You must excuse her. This is Monday, and she's 
hanging up the washing." 




@®@@®SCSi@S5S®© 



XV. WHERE I STOP AND YOU BEGIN 

Hard is the task to point in civil phrase 

One's own dear people's foolish works and ways. — Holmes. 




T was a bleak February morning 
on which I arrived in Columbus 
to attend the colloquy of the Joint 
Synod of Ohio and Other States. 
The trees stood bare against a 
leaden sky, and the wind swept 
in granulated snow swirls over 
fields and commons, like some 
white-veiled ghost giving the sear leaves a merry 
chase. The ground was still bare, save here and 
there where a tuft of grass had caught the wind- 
ghost by the gown as it passed by and held a patch 
of it in firm grasp. Days like this make one feel 
grateful to the man who first domesticated fire; and 
no little service was that which captured the de- 
structive giant and made him do man's bidding by 
sitting on a hearth, cooking, baking, and blowing 
his warm breath against his master's chill hands, 
or, in these last degenerate days, lighting cigarettes 
and pipes for young men and curling-irons for girls 
— service which any giant might rightfully disdain. 
No wonder that now, when heartlessly imprisoned 
in an iron cage, he sometimes, out of pure spite, 
burns a matron's fingers, or breaks loose and de- 
(284) 



Where I Stop and You Begin 285 

vours a house at a gulp. But the man who first led 
this giant into the primitive hut and bade him sit 
down on the hearth, or put a stick into his hand and 
commanded him to push the darkness out of a small 
circle of the night, deserves the ardent gratitude of 
mankind, and especially on such days as this. If 
Luther, with that supreme carelessness of his, did 
not put on his greatcoat, this day taught him a 
lesson which I was not able to impress. 

With overcoat buttoned up to my chin and collar 
turned up over my ears, I stepped from the shelter 
of the Union Station to brave the storm, A blast 
of icy air from the north struck me in the face and 
as much as said: "There, now, take that! You may 
adore the Fire King in your heart, if you will; but 
I, the Frost King, reign to-day. Bow obeisance!" 
Instinctively I turned to the south. There I saw, a 
few paces ahead of me, a man hastening down the 
viaduct walk, taking long strides such as one learns 
to take on the soft roads of the country. 

At once I concluded the stranger was a preacher, 
a little later I had reason to set him down as a 
Lutheran preacher, and finally as a pastor of the 
Joint Synod of Ohio. I am no Sherlock Holmes, 
and, above all, no ecclesiastical Sherlock Holmes, 
though there is such a kindred or tribe; but this 
was a case so plain that almost any churchman could 
have drawn the proper conclusions. You see it was 
like this: I could readily tell he was a preacher, for, 
if a man is at all sincere, a few years in the ministry 



286 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

leave unmistakable signs in his countenance and 
bearing; I knew he was a Lutheran minister be- 
cause he wore a large cross on his watch-chain: 
Episcopalians are wont to do the same, but they 
wear a clerical vest and collar, or a dickey, which he 
did not; and that he was no General Synod man, and, 
in all probability, not a General Council man, I con- 
cluded from the fact that his clothes were not of 
recent cut and were withal a little shabby; and yet 
I was not absolutely certain that he did not belong 
to the General Council, and, moreover, he might 
have been a Missourian. For the time being, that 
was not easy to settle. His synodical connection 
remained uncertain till I saw him stop at one restau- 
rant after the other near the station, read the sign 
on the pavement and, rather shamefacedly, peep 
through the window. He was hunting for the 
cheapest clean and respectable place where he could 
get his breakfast. That settled it: he was a mem- 
ber of the Joint Synod of Ohio, and no mistake 
about it at alL These men get salaries which jus- 
tify the loss of half an hour in hunting an eating- 
house which saves them a nickel on a breakfast. 
Thus this man showed plainly what sort of people 
he was serving. Ministers always do. 

But one of the most conspicuous things about 
this pastor almost slipped my pen here, and that 
is the big satchel he lugged. These big satchels 
often go to synod and conference. When they do, 
they usually contain a nightshirt and brains. The 



Where I Stop and You Begin 287 

nightshirt belongs to the preacher, the brains to the 
church fathers. Of all contrivances, the satchel is 
the most useful in realms ecclesiastic, for it enables 
a person to carry in his hand what he should have 
in his head, and, besides, it throws a halo of book- 
ishness around the man who may have been in love 
during all his seminary course and pushing a baby- 
buggy ever since. Verily, great is the satchel!* 

But that word throw reminds me of a needful 
caution if you are a minister. When you get into 
a discussion, beware of the man with a satchel He 
has something to throw at you, he brought it along 
on purpose, and more than likely it will find the soft 
spot on your head or the hole in your armor. 

When the good man found a restaurant which 
comported with his purse, put the brains under 
the table and set to eating (fortunate for his pocket- 
book and stomach was it that the church fathers he 
had brought along were dead), I took a car for 
Trinity Church. None of the committee had put in 
an appearance there, but an obliging janitor told 
me a number of brethren, both lay and clerical, were 
at the Lutheran Book Concern and would come over 
at nine o'clock, the time set for the meeting. 

*Sine dubio quisque studiosus histo- 
riae ecclesiastic ae meminit joci patrum 
nostrorum, papam quotidie primo mane 
misisse Spiritum Sanctum in bulga ad 
Concilium Tridentinum. Verily, great is the 
■ satchel! 



288 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

Now, the Book Concern is a common meeting- 
place. When ministers come to town they usually 
drop in there to make debts or to pay debts, or to 
speak their mind, which is another way of denomi- 
nating faultfinding. In this respect a book concern 
is an excellent thing, much better than the adi- 
aphora, and for that reason I think every synod 
whose doctrinal basis is settled should have one, for 
it makes an excellent thing to fuss over; and when 
somebody, belligerently inclined, pounces upon it, 
he does the brotherhood no particular harm: it is 
like striking a punching-bag. 

On entering the Book Concern, I was taken aback. 
Such grotesque figures were never paraded before 
the eyes of mortal man. Who was clergyman and 
who was layman, I could not tell. There was one 
man, the most conspicuous, who had a long nose 
like the proboscis of an elephant, and he could 
reach about with it in much the same way; there 
was another who had feet fully thirty-six inches 
long; the third had more mouth than body; the 
fourth had a huge hump on his back; the fifth 
had two tumor-like growths, about as long as a 
man's forearm, protruding from his eye-sockets, 
and his eyes were on the ends of these growths; 
and so on to the last man each had something 
abnormal. 

To keep from staring at them, I began to examine 
the second-hand library behind the door. My hands 
were soon soiled from handling the collection of con- 



Where I Stop and You Begin 289 

troversial pamphlets — a meet penalty for dabbling 
in polemics — and I went to the rear office to lave my 
hands, glad for the excuse to get away. But a 
smudge from a printed page is hard to remove: I 
wish this fact were better known. You that quaran- 
tine measles and chicken-pox, beware of books that 
bring contagion to the soul! 

In the rear office, where I was alone, I was sud- 
denly confronted by a form which seemed to mate- 
rialize from the air, coming gradually into shape. 
It had the appearance of a maiden robed in glisten- 
ing white, and was beautiful beyond comparison. I 
stepped back. 

"Fear not!" said the apparition. 

"What means this?" I quavered. 

"I am come to tell thee of the men thou didst see 
and make known their usefulness, lest thou judge 
and condemn them wrongfully." 

"Pray, who are they?— who is that man with the 
long nose?" 

"Mr. Nebintoeverything." 

"And of what use is he, save to make trouble?" 

"He promotes circumspect action." 

"And that man with the elephant ears?" 

"That is Mr. Hearall. He is serviceable as a 
scavenger." 

"But that man with the colossal feet — what a 
monstrosity!" 

"That is but a one-sided development: he uses his 
feet more than his head and is very useful in 



290 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

parishes where foot-work is appreciated above 
head-work. ' ' 

"But that dwarf with mouth from ear to ear and 
loud, metallic voice?" 

1 ' That is Prohibition, always small in your church. ■ ' 

"And that solemn little man with the big hump on 
his back?" 

"He loads himself with the imaginary care of all 
the churches. He is Mr. Atlas." 

In like manner, each one of the relatively large 
number was named and explained. This being 
ended, I said: 

"And such are the members of this synod! I have 
almost made the round of synods and in none were 
such oddities to be seen." 

"Thou art mistaken. Such people there are in 
every synod and in every denomination. Thine eyes 
were holden, but now is it given thee to see." 

There was silence. The drapery which hung 
about the shoulders of the apparition and trailed on 
the carpet quivered, from under it two wings spread 
forth, the form rose several feet and, hovering thus, 
grew faint and fainter, until the last shimmer faded 
from sight. 

The apparition gone, I stepped to the wash-bowl: 
it is always but a step from an exalted experience 
to a common duty. In turning around I beheld my 
reflection in the mirror. Horror seized me, for 
nearly all my face was occupied by two monster 
eyes, and the fountain pen in my vest pocket had 



Where I Stop and You Begin 291 

attained the circumference of an ax-handle. I did 
not like to see this reflection, and could not stay in 
the room without occasionally looking at it; I 
dreaded going to the street or up to the composing- 
room; and so there was nothing left me but to go 
into the salesroom and keep company with my kind. 
As I entered, a discussion of Luther, or Brother 
Martin, as they called him, was interrupted by a 
scuffle on one of the counters. Brother Nebinto- 
everything had stretched his nose over and stirred 
among some books lying there, when instantly legs 
and arms protruded from them, and, rising to their 
feet, they began to pommel each other. The same 
thing happened when he poked his nose among the 
exchanges, save that it was a free-for-all fight and 
not at all according to science. This diversion over, 
the discussion was resumed. 

"As I was saying," Brother Atlas began, "this 
man's character and antecedents certainly need 
looking into. Why, I hear he has actually applied 
to all the Eastern synods and has been rejected by 
every last one of them. ' ' 

"Nor is that the worst," Brother Hearall added. 
"I have it from a reliable source that he gave his 
consent to a man's marrying a second woman while 
his first wife was still alive." 

"I feared just such breaks," declared Brother 
Nebintoeverything, "for I understand he came over 
from Romanism, and you know how they grant spe- 
cial dispensations, and what they teach about the 



292 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

end justifying the means. The proverb is right: it 
is hard to teach an old dog new tricks. ' ' 

"Yes; and then there is another thing to think of: 
his wife is a runaway nun," declared Brother Hear- 
all, who, while the others were talking, held his head 
to one side and stretched his big elephant ear out 
to arm's length. "Just think of it, a nun for a wife, 
a nun for a wife," he iterated. 

"Yes, and he didn't get her, I understand, till he 
was forty- two," Brother Gallant commented. "Nice 
annotation that on his estimate of the gentle sex, 
the last and finest specimen of God's handiwork. 
What does a minister amount to around whom the 
women will not rally?" 

"Very little, very little," Brother Atlas answered 
and — sighed. 

"This man must be boorish, Brother Gallant," said 
Hearall. "No use mentioning names, but it comes 
from reliable persons that he said in just so many 
words: 'I would hew me an obedient wife out of 
stone, aside from that I — ' " 

"Shame, shame!" interjected Gallant. 

"Nobody made his bed for him for a whole year 
before he was married," Hearall declared. 

"And no doubt he cares for his clothes accord- 
ingly, ' ' said Brother Uptodate, curling his mustache. 
"He 's too careless, too angular, for the times." 

"That matter of a wife is really more important 
than some pastors seem to have thought," Brother 
Croaker commented. "We laymen have opportunity 



Where I Stop and You Begin 293 

to see and know. Don't take him if his wife is n't 
savin'-like and humble and not willing to keep mem- 
bers over night during fair week. It 'U only make 
trouble." 

"Say, I jist heared he has four young ones. That 's 
too many for any parish to keep," thrust in Brother 
Pinchpenny, with both hands in his pockets. 

"He must be past fifty. Could a body ask a con- 
gregation to call such an old man?" asked Brother 
Uptodate, who was evidently a layman. 

"We should think of matters akin to that," Brother 
Bigf oot declared, ignoring the last remarks and am- 
plifying the hint which Croaker had given. "What 
shall we do with the man if we accept him? Where 
will he fit with that wife of his? Is he a good mixer? 
In this day the social factor is a very important one. 
It counts for — say, two-thirds." 

"I fear he is no mixer, no mixer at all," Brother 
Atlas said and — heaved a great sigh. Then he said 
it again and — heaved another great sigh. 

"Mixer, nothing," said Hearall. "Why, I have it 
on good authority — I am not at liberty to mention 
names, but I have it from a trustworthy source — 
that he once refused to shake hands with a sectarian 
preacher. Why, that was not even civil, to say 
nothing of sociable." 

"That is right," Brother Politic remarked, "a min- 
ister should not only be civil, but he should also be 
winsome in his ways, and especially should he be 
choice in his use of words. Now I understand 



29 kittle Journeys With Martin Luther 

thi man is exceptionally rough in his language, 
and — " 

"And polemical, too, for these are usually hitched 
like two oxen under one yoke," broke in Brother 
Goeasy. '"Twill never do, never do," he added, 
shaking his head ruefully. "Polemics will do as a 
condiment, but never as a diet." 

"I don't like that remark," rejoined the finest 
looking man among them, the man whose only devi- 
ation from things normal was that his suit was 
made of hogskin and that his fists were somewhat 
large and calloused. "I don't like that remark," he 
repeated by way of emphasis. "There is not enough 
contending for the faith once delivered to the saints, 
and too much politic silence, which is compromise, 
nothing but compromise. There never was a good 
Lutheran who would not contend for the faith." 

"Right!" said I, no longer able to restrain myself. 
"And, besides, you men are not to select a man for 
a given parish. He comes as an applicant for 
admission to synod, and the duty of your commit- 
tee is merely to inquire into the soundness of his 
faith." 

"And just there is where the rub will come in," 
replied the man with the long projecting eyes, 
Brother Faultfinder, or Magnifier — I have forgotten 
the name. "I am told," he added in explanation, 
"that he is the author of a book on The Bondage 
of the Will which is Missourish, and, from aU 
accounts, it must be rank." 



Where I Stop and You Begin 295 

"A fine Missourian he is, indeed, whom the Mis- 
souri Synod has rejected!" I retorted. 

"That doesn't say anything: Missouri is a pious 
mystery," Brother Atlas said, and — sighed. 

"Well, we don't want to take Missouri's refuse," 
Grumbler asserted in a very decided tone. "Our 
synod is no dumping-ground." 

"We 've had enough such from Europe years ago," 
said Atlas with a sigh. 

"But you have overlooked a very important thing," 
said the dwarf. "Barring my convictions, it must be 
conceded that it is an offence to the people of almost 
every community if a minister uses fermented, 
brewed or distilled liquors. Now, I am convinced 
that it is true that this man might take a glass 
of beer, and I should not at all be surprised if 
he also smokes. We want no more ministers of that 
stripe. ' ' 

Nobody paid any attention to this, according to 
the rule, least said, soonest mended. 

What a flimsy thing is reputation: "Oft got with- 
out merit, oft lost without desert," and never in the 
owner's keeping. The man these men described 
was not the man I had learned to know and love. 
Such representations of our fellow men are like the 
spectres of the ghost show that used to harrow my 
youthful soul. The real man of flesh and bone and 
throbbing heart is elsewhere while his reflection is 
made to strut the stage by trick of light, mirror and 

20 



296 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

glass, and the character of the likeness, whether 
true or distorted, depends upon the quality of the 
instruments. Whether he be standing on feet or 
head, depends not upon him, but on the position of 
the reflectors. So it often comes that one cannot 
recognize his best friend in another man's mouth. 
But to these men, who knew not what they were 
doing, and to all those who purposely malign him, 
I say: Clean your fingers, before you point at 
Luther's spots! 

"Well, brethren, it is time to go over to the 
church," the man who wore the hogskin suit said, 
as he snapped the lid of his old silver watch. "The 
chairman is no doubt there and we ought to begin 
promptly. ' ' 

I thought, you may go, but I shall not venture on 
the street in this condition nor with such a gang. 
In spite of what the apparition had said, I was not 
sure people would not stare at us. Besides, nothing 
was said of me, save that I had been given the power 
to see things as they are, and that might imply a 
permanent change. When they were gone, I opened 
the door a little and looked at them through the 
crack. To my surprise, everything abnormal about 
them had vanished. Running my hand over my 
face and eyes, I found, to my great relief, that they, 
too, were normal. Then I went to the church. Pshaw ! 
what cravens we are: a man would not be brave 
enough to go down street if he were transparent. 

A large number of men, mostly pastors, were 



Where I Stop and You Begin 297 

present. It must have been noised about that there 
was an important personage to examine and that 
there was likely to be some fine theological disputa- 
tion. Your Saxon always likes to see a fight: the 
kind, whether fisticuff or argument, depends wholly 
upon his breeding and intelligence. 

Luther was sitting in a side pew, well to the front, 
scanning the assemblage as if trying to determine its 
calibre. He had grown quite haggard since the 
evening I first saw him at the statue in Washington. 
What pain in heartaches at the hands of the Church! 
I felt for him, and thought of his remark when he 
told me that his application to the Ohio Synod was 
the last one he would make. "I am tired of the 
world, and the world is tired of me," he had then 
said, "so we can easily part, just as a traveler leaves 
an inn. When I shall have settled this affair, I will 
return home, lay me in my coffin and give my body 
to the worms." Now, with that attenuated body 
before me, these words seemed like a prophecy in 
course of fulfillment. 

The colloquium was opened in the usual way, and 
then the committee placed the table near a register, 
Luther took a pew close to it, and the rest of us 
moved nearer. When all was in readiness, the 
chairman, who was a small man with an unusually 
strong voice, put his first question in most emphatic 
tone: 

"Brother Martin, do you hold membership in any 
secret society?" 



298 Little Journeys With Martin Luther 

It was so loud that it startled me. My body gave 
an involuntary lurch, and — 



A robin, perched on a bough of an old apple-tree, 
whose branches swayed over the sill of the window, 
was warbling a sweet song to its mate, and the 
fragrance of apple blossoms filled the chamber. 
Could this be drear February? No, it was cheery 
May. And the place? No church was this. The 
little wall-clock that just struck six had tones like 
mine. The books, ranged on three sides of the room, 
were of familiar garb and mien. That mountain 
scene, for which the window-casement formed a 
frame, was the same I had gazed upon a thousand 
times. Slowly I came to a realization of the situa- 
tion. In the cool of the evening I was sitting in my 
own armchair in my own study, and these scenes 
which I had witnessed, these scenes striking and 
pathetic, scenes which made one's heart swell and his 
cheeks burn, were but a dream or vision of the day, 
but a vision fraught with solemn lessons and an evi- 
dent purpose. I cannot think it was meant solely 
for me, and have faithfully set it all down in writing 
for other eyes, and heads, and hearts, — other eyes 
that can see, heads that can understand, and hearts 
that can feel the sin and the shame of schism. If 
any one blushes for the situation which these events 
portray in crass and graphic lines and color, well 
and good; may that spurt of hot blood stir his heart 



Where I Stop and You Begin 



to pray, and speak, and work more earnestly than 
ever for the unity of our Lutheran Zion. May the 
day soon dawn — heart of mine, is this aspiration 
too strong? nay, nay, it cannot be— may the day 
soon dawn when the Lutheran soldiers of the cross, 
in their onslaughts on the principalities of dark- 
ness, keep step, believing the same thing, confessing 
the same thing, desiring the same thing. 

And now the writer has come to the end and will 
lay the pen aside, and the reader has come to the 
end and will lay the narrative aside, but ere we part 
let us unite in one short prayer for our divided 
brotherhood: "Sanctify them, Lord, through Thy 
truth, Thy Word is truth." And let all who pray 
for the peace of Jerusalem say, Amen. 










NOW I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same 
thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but 
that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind 
and in the same judgment — I Cor. i 10. 



(300) 



THE REMEDY: AN INTERVIEW 



(301) 



MEN must be taught as if you taught them not, 
and things unknown proposed as things for- 
got. — Pope. 



(302) 




BUT if ye bite and devour 
one another, take heed that 
ye be not consumed one of an- 
other. — GaL v. 15. 



(304) 



@®@®@S85}@SSJS*§> 



THE REMEDY: AN INTERVIEW 

But conversation, choose what theme we may, 

And chiefly when religion leads the way, 

Should flow, like waters after showers, 

Not as if raised by mere mechanic powers. — Cowper. 




HE manuscript of the preceding 
narrative has been criticized np 
and down, back and forth, and in 
every other way that a work of 
this kind can be criticized. As the 
folk tongue would say, it got its 
dose good and proper. Not that 
any one of the tribe ferocious con- 



demned the whole work; nay, on the contrary, each 
critic praised the book as such, urged that it be 
printed, and bespoke a copy; only each one had little 
changes to suggest and fairly large eliminations to 
request so far as his own synod figures in the nar- 
rative. As you can readily see, had all these requests 
been granted, little would remain of those parts of 
the book which record the colloquies; but on the 
other hand, as you will also quickly perceive, what 
any one of them had pronounced bad or question- 
able all the others had actually endorsed as good. So 
there was no way of satisfying them, even had I been 
so inclined, for each one had all the rest against him. 
But at last there came a right sensible man — right 

(305) 



306 The Remedy: An Interview 

sensible, I say, because he did not hint, suggest, 
request, or demand that anything be omitted, but, 
conversely, was of the decided opinion that the man- 
uscript should receive additions. So I took this 
right sensible clergyman into the back office, gave 
him a chair — the wicker chair with the easy back — 
seated myself on the table and got ready to draw 
him out. 

"As I said," he began so soon as seated, "every 
last one of the reviewers will pass the same adverse 
criticism on this book; it simply points out an evil, 
but it does not so much as hint at a remedy. There 
is not a constructive element in it." 

"Frankly," I replied, taking eye-measure of my 
caller, a man of about seventy years of age, some- 
what stoop-shouldered and of decidedly Jewish cast 
of countenance, "frankly, we of the newspaper offices 
have little fear and less reverence for reviewers." 

"But," he persisted, "this criticism would be just: 
there is nothing constructive in this manuscript. 
Couldn't you amplify some parts of — " 

"Nay, I will not lay hands on a dead man's work," 
I replied in a tone that probably betrayed indigna- 
tion. "That is too much like vandalism." 

"But you are publishing it. You could at least 
add a treatise of your own." 

"That is a horse of a different color. What, in 
your opinion, is the remedy?" 

"Have a stogy?" 

"No, thank you; I don't smoke." 



The Remedy: An Interview 307 

He eyed me suspiciously, then smiled. 

"I doubt if you are koscher," said he, cutting 
the end off the stogy. "As a rule, the man who 
doesn't smoke has a kink in his orthodoxy. But, 
since you are a creature that wears trousers, tell me 
what you do that is off color?" 

"Well, just now I 'm putting to press a book that 's 
going to get me into hot water." 

"Unfortunately, that prediction is likely to be veri- 
fied," he declared, the smile vanishing. "A man 
cannot touch this question of Lutheran unity ever 
so remotely without — " 

"Without being suspected, misunderstood, de- 
nounced," I cut in. 

"Just so. Yet that should not deter a man from 
doing his duty as God gives him to see it. What 
else is to be expected of schismatics? Schism's halo 
is the Church's shame. Which of the prophets was 
not stoned?" 

"But that feature of the situation is neither here 
nor there," I replied. "I will publish this book: 
that is settled. Hammering can do me no harm, for 
I cherish no synodical ambitions. I 'm like the 
punching-bag our author mentions. And to let the 
cat out of the bag, I think I 'd enjoy a round or two 
with hidebound partisans. Yet, with the numerous 
distinctive features of the different synods staring 
one in the face, it does seem a difficult proposition 
to offer a practical plan for church unity." 

"No, that is where you are mistaken," he said with 



308 The Remedy: An Interview 

haste. "The whole thing is simple, my son— very, 
very simple." 

"What, the remedy simple!" 

"Yes," said he very deliberately, tipping the ashes 
from his stogy. "All they need do — and, mark you, 
I say it with reverence — all they need do is give God 
a chance." 

The remark did not sound reverent for all his 
protestation, and I eyed him quizzically. Now I 
noticed that his hair, close-cropped to arrest on- 
creeping baldness, was burned a reddish hue, no 
doubt from an overdose of overstrong hair invig- 
orator. This pride of hair did not strike me as jib- 
ing with the clerical vest, and— I actually caught 
myself smiling. 

"I mean exactly what I said," he protested, mis- 
construing that ill-bred smile. "Let them give God 
a chance. In God's pharmacy there is a remedy for 
all of Mother Church's ills, and this matter of schism 
is no — " 

"Isn't schism rather too strong a word here?" 

"No, sir; I think not. If my memory serves me 
right, Dr. Walther's definition of the pesky thing is 
this: 'Schisms, that is, divisions, are separations on 
account of ceremonies, practices and respect of per- 
sons engendered among such as are otherwise agreed 
in the articles of faith.' So if one says, I am of 
Walther, or of Loy, or of Fritschel, or of Seiss, or of 
Krauth, he 's got the mark. And it 's the same with 
synods. But don't bother about the word: we know 



The Remedy: An Interview 309 

what we mean by it. It is what St. Paul means 
when he says: 'Now I beseech you, brethren, by the 
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the 
same thing, and that there be no divisions among 
you.'" 

"By 'giving God a chance,' I judge you mean that 
the scrappers let up a bit on some things." 

"Well, yes," he said hesitatingly; "that and some- 
thing more. But here you must not press my words 
beyond what I mean. However, I do sincerely wish 
that some of them would stop long enough to 
put their hands back of their ears and listen. Maybe 
they would hear this from High Heaven: 'Be still, 
and know that I am God!' Some of these things are 
in plain violation of God's law." 

"What, for instance?" 

"Why, this everlasting suspicion— this thing of 
putting the worst construction on everything that 
happens in another synod. It is not charitable: it is 
not just Were I to treat my neighbor that way, 
men would rightly regard me as an uncharitable 
monster. Now by what sort of ecclesiastical leger- 
demain can that be made to appear right for a synod 
which is wrong for an individual? If you treat a 
solitary mortal uncharitably, that is bad; but if you 
treat uncharitably five hundred of them in the shape 
of a synod, that, forsooth, is good, schism puts a halo 
around your head for it, and henceforth you stand 
with the defenders of the faith. So it is. I am an 
old man: again and again have I seen men climb to 



310 The Remedy: An Interview 

'honor' on the rungs of shame. But the worst part 
of it is that the editors of church papers are usually 
the worst offenders in this respect." 

"I agree with you in t o t o; but to return to — ' ' 

"But the thing is not only uncharitable, it is also 
illogical," he went on, cutting off my remark. "Iso- 
lated cases of wrong practice do not prove an entire 
synod guilty. Practices, like children, are of two 
kinds: legitimate and illegitimate. And, so far as 
I can see, all synods have 'weak sisters' enough and 
to spare. But everlastingly you hear the other 
synod's faults. Just a few nights ago I was sitting 
on a porch with a big man who belongs to a little 
synod. The conversation took this very turn. (You 
know little synods, like little men and little dogs, 
make most noise.) Said I: 'Now you mention, one 
after the other, every case of inconsistent practice 
you know of in Blank Synod, and I will trot one out 
of your own synod to offset each one you present. ' ' 

"What did he say?" 

"He said, 'Good night,' took his chair and went 
into the house. The next time we chanced to meet 
we discussed the high cost of living with perfect 
unanimity. No, young man, it is not fine for one 
synod to say to another: 'Let me pull the mote out 
of thine eye,' ere it has pulled the beam out of its 
own. Neither is it safe. And, furthermore, the synod 
that does not see its faults has a beam in its eye. ' ' 

The talk was becoming intensely interesting to 
me. But the stogy had gone out and I had to nurse 



The Remedy: An Interview 311 

my impatience till my Lady Nicotine was cared 
for. "Well?" said I finally. 

"Well," he gasped, the stogy yielding reluctant 
obedience, "well, there are some more things to 
which the brethren should put a stop for the sake of 
Christ and His Church. One of them is the opposi- 
tion altar. It is one of the most shameful and harm- 
ful things in intersynodical polity: a cause of grief 
to our own people, a stumblingblock to the nearly 
persuaded, ammunition in the hands of sectarian 
opponents, and the delight of the very old devil 
himself." He paused for a moment, as if his breath 
were quite spent, and then said in a sad tone: "Yes, 
my son, it was the devil who put the syn into synod. ' ' 

"In speaking of this so-called rivalry, I have heard 
leading men declare that it actually promotes church 
extension by keeping ministers alert and active," 
said I. A few years at reporting had taught me 
where to apply the match, and you see I was apply- 
ing it very deliberately. "They allege that God over- 
rules it for — " 

"Enough, enough; more than enough!" exclaimed 
my old friend, throwing up his hand. "If God has 
to overrule it, that is proof positive that it is bad; 
and if preachers will do more for their synod than 
for their Savior, it is a shame— a heaven-crying 
shame. Such arguments only show how hard put 
to men are to find a defence for the dirty conduct 
that grows out of the conditions which they are per- 
21 



312 The Remedy: An Interview 

petuating. To talk of the blessings of schism is 
preposterous, yet this is the sum total of this defence 
which they set up. Then look at the speciousness 
of the practical side of it. If rivalry be needed as 
a spur, does not the presence of sectarianism provide 
enough of it? Furthermore, if we had a united 
Church, is there aught in such a federation of synods 
to prevent them from provoking one another to good 
works? Nay, not that I can see. But it wrings my 
heart to talk about these things. I wish our laymen 
would rise up in their might and protest against 
spending their means for the perpetuation of mean- 
ness. And, furthermore, on account of the heart- 
aches it has caused, the feelings it has engendered, 
and the opinions of the opposing synod's practices 
which it seems to justify on the part of the pastors 
who suffer from it, the opposition altar is one of the 
greatest obstacles to any movement looking toward 
unification. This is a big land: why can't the synods 
have enough Christian manhood to say: 'Let there 
be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and 
between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we are 
brethren'? At all events, this preying on one an- 
other, instead of praying for one another, is one of 
the offensive and hurtful things that must be put 
away. While men are continually made to smart 
under — ' ' 

"Don't you think polemics should be included in 
this list?" 

"Well, ah — yes, or — or no," he faltered in evident 



The Remedy: An Interview 313 

embarrassment. I suspect the good old man him- 
self had had a hand in pretty caustic controversy 
once upon a time. "It depends upon what you 
mean," he explained. "You see we must 'earnestly 
contend for the faith which was once delivered unto 
the saints,' and besides, all discussion need not be 
disgusting. But if you mean defamatory and venge- 
ful polemics, you are right. 'Speaking the truth in 
love,' is the rule which should obtain here. Love is 
a physician who sugar-coats his pills. But I agree 
with you: a saint should not act like a savage, stick 
a quill behind his ears and let out a war-whoop! 
There is not much of that any more, and there ought 
to be less. Noteworthy is the fact that recent iren- 
ics have come from heads turning white as the 
almond — aye, and among them heads that once en- 
gaged in keen polemics. Is it that the experience of 
years clarifies the vision? Is it that hearts grow 
mellow as the feet verge nearer the grave? I know 
not. But the fact remains: pungent as the untimely 
persimmon was the product of middle age; palatable 
as fruit that is ripe is the product of life's later 
harvest. The young warrior, as he runs his finger 
along the keen edge of his sword, should think of 
this, lest he have much to rue when the shadows 
lengthen towards the grave and he sits in the mel- 
low light of the declining sun chewing the cud of 
bitter-sweet remembrance." 

Then he paused a few moments, and I said noth- 
ing to break the spell of reverie. 



314 The Remedy: An Interview 

"Ah, there is much to forget and much to forgive 
on all sides!" he exclaimed. "Let him that is with- 
out sin cast the first stone. Aye, and in this land 
of divers races, there is much that we have loved 
and cherished that shall have to go into the melting- 
pot at last. America does not want the German 
church sans the German language, nor the Scandi- 
navian church sans its language; but it does want 
the Lutheran Church intact in doctrine and adapted 
to environment in nonessentials. Race peculiarities 
and preferences all may contribute and all must be 
ready to yield." 

He mopped his brow with his red bandana, and 
fumbled in his pocket for a match for the refractory 
stogy. This break gave me an opportunity to lead 
the conversation back to the matter in hand, or at 
least I thought it did. 

"I am afraid we are doing just what you charge 
against our author — pointing out the ills without 
suggesting a remedy," I remarked. "A little while 
ago you said the remedy is very simple, that God 
has a medicament in His pharmacy for every one 
of Mother Church's ills." 

"Yes, to be sure," he replied. "As every Lutheran 
well knows, there is but one remedy for spiritual 
ills, and that remedy is the Word of God. All the 
rest is claptrap. Now all that is needed is the appli- 
cation of God's Word— Law and GospeL That will 
do the work." 

"Yes, 'the application of it,' that is, I think, well 



The Remedy: An Interview 315 

and discreetly said. To be real frank (and I trust 
you will not take umbrage), it reminds me of the 
mouse's proposition to bell the cat. The rub comes 
so soon as — " 

"Not so fast," he protested. "This is a case in 
which bells may very easily be put on the cats. It 
is a thing on which the rank and file may have some- 
thing to say— in fact, have the right to say some- 
thing, and ought to say it. Besides, we are really 
dealing with servants. 'He that is greatest among 
you shall be your servant.' Young man, do you thor- 
oughly understand that? What is a preacher? The 
servant of a congregation. What is the president 
of a synod? The servant of that body. What is a 
theological professor? A servant of synod, also. 
Now what is the congregation? what is the synod? 
Why you and I, Paul and Peter, Phcebe and Gretchen 
are congregation and synod." 

"But what of all that?" 

"Why, just this: a person has the right to talk to 
his servants — to lay down their duty and to hold 
them to it. Now, then, that is what we of the dif- 
ferent synods should do. I think the laymen, who 
foot schism's bill and feel some of its heartaches, 
should get up and say something real loud. The 
preachers who feel the shame, and the smart, and 
the sin of schism, and know the remedy, ought to 
get up and do something real telling. Sometimes 
keeping your mouth shut and your ink-bottle corked 
is sin. Yes, and you may take this as a proverb: 



316 The Remedy: An Interview 

the man who is satisfied with schism is satisfied with 
sin." 

"But still the question is, what can be done?" 

"Never mind," he answered testily, "I will come 
to that in due time. The other day a synodical dig- 
nitary asked me this same provoking question: 
'Well, what can be done?' I replied: 'Something 
more than grow callous by sitting around and suck- 
ing our thumbs.' What? Did you ask me if he 
liked it? No, none of them who say they are in 
favor of unity and never do anything to promote it, 
like to hear that. Of course, every man says he is 
in favor of unity. Here is Christ's prayer for one- 
ness. Here are the apostolic warnings against divi- 
sions. So of course they all say they are in favor 
of unity, and perhaps honestly think they are. But 
tell me, how can you find it out unless you ask them? 
And then you have only their unsupported word 
for it." 

"They are like the father of the little boy who 
was in here the other day," said I. " 'To what 
church do your people belong?' " I asked the 
urchin. " 'Ma's a Baptist," he replied, 'and 
dad he 's a Methodist, only he does n't work 
at it.' " 

"Yes, that is how it is with these men and the 
cause of unity," he commented. "But I have no 
patience with that sort of thing. God says: 'Be ye 
doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving 
your own selves. ' It is high time a lot of fine fellows 



The Remedy: An Interview 317 

quit deceiving their own selves. They don't deceive 
God, they don't deceive the devil, they don't even 
deceive us." 

"But they do deceive themselves and the Church 
of God suffers for it." 

' ' Yes. But what I am trying to get at is this : these 
divisions will go on till doomsday unless something 
is done to put a stop to them; and nothing is going 
to be done unless we who actually want unity do it. 
Officialdom sees its duties elsewhere. If we do not 
do something ours individually is the guilt. We 
can't hide behind a synod with our sins of omission 
or commission. Schism is sin, sin is personal. 
That 's all there is to it." 

Again Lady Nicotine monopolized his attention. 

"Yes," said he, hunting for the broken thread of 
his talk, "yes, let a man squirm as much as he will, 
the truth remains: schism is sin, sin is personal. No 
man can jouk that. Now let us try to get our bear- 
ings: first, schism or division is sin; second, the 
Word of God is the only remedy for division; third, 
division continues on its rampage because our lead- 
ers cannot, or at least do not, apply the Word effect- 
ually to themselves; fourth, these leaders are our 
servants, yours and mine, Paul's and Peter's, 
Phoebe's and Gretchen's. Consequently, the thing 
for us to do is to fix it so the Word of God, both Law 
and Gospel, will be applied to our servants, and that 
specifically to the sore spots. Don't you see, it is 
nothing more than a common-sense proposition: just 



318 The Remedy: An Interview 

fix it so the error will be rubbed ont and the truth 
rubbed in." 

"But how?" 

"Well, did n't I tell you they are our servants?" 

"Yes, I understand that full well." 

"Well, then, all we need to do is to get to work 
and fix it that way. In the first place, let all the 
synods unite in establishing a permanent conference 
comprised wholly of theological professors and make 
it obligatory upon every theological professor to 
attend it. This body should meet at least once every 
year. Aside from its permanent character and ob- 
ligatory attendance, this should be a free conference 
to all intents and purposes. The object should be 
the discussion of doctrine and practice on the basis 
of God's Word. That will accomplish something, 
for God's Word is a power and He has promised that 
it shall not return unto Him void. Besides, when 
you touch the theological seminaries, you touch the 
future." 

"And that done, what more?" 

"Why, in the second place, a similar obligatory 
conference for all the presidents of all the syn- 
ods. Only in this case it might be well to broaden 
the object and increase the representation. Be- 
sides discussing doctrine and practice, it might 
consider intersynodical questions, publications and 
movements in which we might be able to co-op- 
erate, and report to the respective synods; and 
besides the president, it might be well to have 



The Remedy: An Interview 319 

each synod elect a ministerial delegate at each 
convention." 

"And then what?" 

"Well, in the third place, I would have as many 
free conferences as possible started to meet regu- 
larly, say semiannually. It should be the duty of 
the district synods to see that this is done. I think 
that this would do the work: a conference of theo- 
logical professors at it all the time, a conference of 
presidents and leading men at it all the time, and 
conferences of preachers, from Dan to Beersheba, at 
it all the time. All we want is God's truth and 
church polity consistent with that truth. I 'm not 
concerned about organic unity." 

"It strikes me," I interposed, "that we should 
keep organic union in mind. I agree with Dr. Loy 
when he says: 'It is the will of the Lord that the 
one body of believers should outwardly manifest 
itself in one body.' " 

"Yes, yes, that 's all nice and good. Walther, 
Fritschel, Krauth and all the rest of them say that, 
too. But why do you not understand me? I am not 
concerned about union, because that will take care 
of itself once we get unity. ' ' 

"But suppose our good professors and presidents 
should deem the plan futile and refuse to attend 
those conferences?" 

"What!" he fairly snapped. "Didn't I tell you 
they are our servants? Well, then, 'raus mit 
'em! send them to Prester John's country, and 



320 The Remedy: An Interview 

get servants who will do it. Of servants it is 
required that they be found faithful. Now, has not 
the apostle said, 'Submit yourselves to every ordi- 
nance of man for the Lord's sake'? And will that 
not apply to synod as well as to state? But is such 
a refusal conceivable when the Scriptures say, 'As 
every man has received the gift, even so minister 
the same one to another, as good stewards of the 
manifold gifts of God?' Would it not be ungrateful, 
uncharitable, haughty, faithless, or cowardly to 
refuse?" 

"Yet, for all that, I can conceive how an entire 
synod might refuse to take part in such work." 

"Then that synod would stamp itself with the 
brand of sectarianism. Dr. Fritschel was right 
when he said: 'To keep in one's eye one's own little 
communion above all, though the Kingdom of God 
suffer thereby, is the real hall-mark of sectarianism.' 
I think Paul's words apply here: 'As we therefore 
have opportunity, let us do good unto all men, espe- 
cially unto them that are of the household of faith. ' 
Here the question is not which synod is right or 
which is wrong in confession or practice. Each must 
believe it is right. But the question is whether the 
synod that is right is doing its full duty towards 
synods that are wrong. If a synod has gone down 
from Jerusalem on the Jericho road, fallen among 
thieves and been left half dead, isn't it high time 
that the others quit walking by on the other side, 
like haughty priest and callous Levite, and stop to 



The Remedy: An Interview 321 

pour oil and wine into the wounds? Right here a 
little Samaritanism would not come amiss. Ortho- 
doxy without charity is a heartless religion— a mon- 
strosity." Then he paused a moment, and, as he 
pulled out his bandana, added: "But that reminds 
me of something — something important." 

The old minister was perspiring. He had been 
in dead earnest and eloquent withal. In his younger 
days, I imagine, he was one of the kind that break 
all the rules that were ever made for preaching, and 
obey them all, just as suits their purpose. But I 
opine he always made his point, and that the com- 
mon people heard him gladly. Now that he had 
wiped his face, he adjusted his spectacles, and 
continued: 
"This is really a very important point, and yet it 
almost slipped me. 'Tis a trick age plays a man. 
What I have in mind is charity in these proposed 
conferences. The dominant desire must not be to 
obtain victory, but to get at the truth. Luther had 
the right idea. I think I can quote him verbatim. 
'We must forget the strifes and stings of the past/ 
he says, 'and s tr i v e for unity with patience, meek- 
ness and kindly colloquies, but most of all with 
prayer to God the Father, who is the author of all 
concord and love.' But I have no fear of the result. 
God can bless us beyond our expectations. Now I 
am sure that if all the synods establish a joint con- 
ference for theological professors, another for their 
presidents and leading theologians, and provide free 



322 The Remedy: An Interview 

conferences for all the pastors, why — or is there 
anything else in this connection that you can think 
of?" 

"Yes, I think one theological magazine to a lan- 
guage would be a big help." 

"Really, that is a capital idea," he ejaculated. 
"Such a magazine would be an open forum. We 
would get the views of representative men of all 
synods. ' ' 

"Yes, and it would be a live wire, too. You 
wouldn't have to make preachers take it: it would 
take the preachers." 

"An intersynodical magazine of that character 
would do much for the cause of unity. And, further, 
I think the editors would welcome such a consolida- 
tion. As it is, they each have a few readers, and 
they consist of men who agree with them in tot o. 
They never reach the rest. And so far as responsi- 
bility goes, each synod need only be responsible for 
its own contributions. 'Twould be like an intersyn- 
odical conference. This thing appeals to me strongly. 
But—" 

The stogy was out again. I can readily pardon 
an old man for smoking, for he has tailed over from 
a day when that was a common practice; but it is 
hard to forgive an old man for smoking stogies when 
he has run so far on life's way that his breath is 
quite spent. He should smoke cigars: they stay 
lighted better and look more dignified. 

"But," he gasped, the ignition performed, "you 



The Remedy: An Interview 323 

must not grow faint-hearted or uncharitable if op- 
posed. Schism has Samsons who cannot understand 
how a man can attempt to promote the concord and 
prosperity of the Lutheran Church as a whole with- 
out being disloyal to that part to which he belongs. 
'Tis the logic of their position without the charity 
of their profession. That is why schism's halo is 
the Church's shame. I am an old man standing on 
the verge of the grave, but ere I go hence I want to 
say this to the coming generation: He serves his 
synod best who serves the Church best." 

The clock struck nine. He rose and picked up 
his hat and cane. 

"I hope you will see your way clear," said he, "to 
add to your book a treatise on the remedy for 
schism." 

"I will consider it seriously and prayerfully, I 
assure you. I appreciate your kindness." 

"If our men will only get down to it in dead 
earnest," he said on parting, "establish these con- 
ferences for theological professors, presidents of 
synods, and for pastors, launch an intersynodical 
magazine in each language, and then just keep at it 
all the time, I am sure that in a little while, say a 
hundred years, our Lutheran hosts in this land will 
be practically one." 

I think the old minister was about right. 
What do you think? 

The End 



FINALLY, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of 
good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and 
the God of love and peace shall be with you. — 
II Cor. xiii. 11. 



(324) 



INDEX 



(325) 



I 



NDEX LEARNING turns no student pale, yet 
holds the eel of science by the tail. — Pope. 



(326) 



WHAT DR. MARTIN LUTHER SAYS 

Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be 
lost.— St. John vi. 12. 



Page 

ABOMINATION, in holy 
place 200 

Absolution, who receives 175 

in case of necessity 158 

Actor, God disguises himself 

like an 81 

Accuracy, history demands 

the greatest 134 

Adam, God blamed by 117 

Eve named by 171 

a grief spared 77 

wretched children of....H5, 171 

the old, faith mortifies 94 

Adiaphora 140-141, 182 

Administrators, ministers 

are 157, 159 

Church needs 158 

Adornment, woman's best 85 

Adultery 41 

Adventists, Seventh Day, 

Scripture is against 51 

Advice, to one in bad business 38 

iEsop, existence of 64 

fables of 63-65 

Affliction, hard to decipher.... 62 

a sweet comfort in 114 

war humanity's great 172 

Agnosticism, in religion.. 179-180 
Agriculture, work commanded 

by God 69 

a fine calling 66, 188 

hath great hope 66 

Altar-fellowship, forbidden.... 

58, 100-102 
Altar, Sacrament of the. (See 
Sacrament.) 



Page 

Anecdotes — 
Battle Hymn of Reforma- 
tion 65 

Count of Thuringia 274 

Farmers of Holsdorf 189 

Parmer and Weather 164 

An Indolent Priest 274 

The "Wedding at Torgau 231 

A Filthy Priest 184 

Angels, guardian 272 

God not responsible for bad 117 

Anger, wit is whetted by 132 

Animals, dog is most faithful 

among 63 

deer 79 

hog 63 

ox and ass 68 

most dangerous 76 

more are beneficial than 
harmful 79 

Antichrist, what must be un- 
derstood by the term.197-198 

marks of 202 

seat of .202-203 

has been revealed 195 

need of warning against.... 192 
Book of the Generations of 192 

Ape, God's 35 

the demi-monde's 85 

fable of the 249 

Apostle, the devil's 194 

Apostles, Lutheran doctrine 
identical with teaching of 124 

Apostles' Creed, the Histo- 
ria Historiaru m.... 92 
origin of 90 



21 



(327) 



328 



What Dr. Martin Luther Says 



Fag* 
Apostles' Creed — Concluded 
Lutheran doctrine accords 

with 124 

Apple, wormy, illustrates de- 
ceptive wealth..- 188 

Apollonia, St., petitioned 

against toothache 276 

Architect, the great..- 80 

Arguments, confusing secta- 
rian 129 

shaky Anahaptist 176-182 

ridiculous Papistic.- _ 117 

Arians, XTicene Creed opposed 

to 91 

Aristotle, saying of 262 

Army, victory not always to 

largest 173 

Arrogance, Papal 117-118, 200-203 

sectarian -.106, 109 

infidel 166 

Art, ecclesiastical _ 260-261 

Arts, astrology not one of the 

liberal „ 262 

printing one of the greatest 34 

Ass, an example for man 68 

a Christian should not he 

hurled like an 74 

Astrology, idolatrous to put 

faith in 69 

no foundation for 262 

Esau and Jacob inexplicable 

to _ 263 

Athanasius, Creed of 91 

Atilia, St., Papal eye-doctor.. 276 

Audacity, Papal 203 

sectarian 105-106, 109 

agnostic - 165 

Augsburg, Confession of _ 93 

in what sense understood.. 123 

Author, of Bible _ 89 

of history ..__ 134 

Of iEsop's Fables 64 

Authors, who defame 135 



Page 

Authors — Concluded 
who are given to sourrllons 

polemics _ 213 

who claim Pope is earthly 

god 201 

BABES, love for „_ 272 
exercise of 273 

must be baptized 125 

can have faith 176-178 

unbaptized — 180 

Ball, gun and cannon ITS 

Banishment, meet for trust 

promoters 37 

Baptism, what it is 49 

Christ speaks in - 178 

Infant - 176-180 

Adult "Believers' " 176 

in case of necessity 158 

Baptists. (See Xmmersionists.) 

Beard, original sin like 163 

Beasts, should be given con- 
siderate treatment 63 

harmful and beneficial 79 

the most dangerous 76 

why there are harmful 79 

Beauty, of flowers 75, 115 

of storm 42 

of garden for pious chil- 
dren _ 268 

Bee, Christ's enemies like 

furious 166 

Beer, the man who first 

brewed 229 

the devil has spoiled all 229 

Germans' intemperate use 

of 229-236 

a good swallow of 241 

Beggars, God sometimes wears 

garb of 81 

one source of - 68 

worthy and unworthy 220 

Believers, are anointed _ 155 

priesthood of 153-154 



Index 



329 



Page 

Believers — Concluded 

are king's 154 

Bequests, for education 277 

Bereavement, consolation in 113 

Bias, in history 134 

Bible, is God's Word 89 

preacher dare proclaim 

nothing else _ 108 

not a confession of faith.... 

122, 126 
its doctrine may be put in 

other words 126 

denounced as heretical 118 

wealth of comfort in 89 

like an orchard 89 

Pope and his chnrch claim 

to be over the .200, 203 

Emser's attitude towards 

the 118 

(See also Scripture and 
Word.) 
Bible, Lay, Catechism is real 92 

Bigotry, Papal 198 

sectarian 106 

Bird, pious ruler is a rare.... 41 
Birds, temptation illustrated 

by 119 

do not worry „ 71 

their distrust 72 

illustrate linguistic differ- 
ences 191 

God's expense in feeding.... 70 

Blackguard 170 

Blasphemy, diabolical 253 

Papal 200 

sanctimonious 116 

Blindness of unbelievers 166 

Body, influence of mind on.... 185 

must not injure 185 

diseases of 115 

■hall live again 75 

Bohemians, a blunder of 244 

Books, Catechism superior to 
the Fathers' 93 



Page 

.Ssop among the best 64 

scurrilous _ 213 

of the Pope and his lick- 
spittles _ 201 

Boor, when the farmer is no 67 

Boose, a German idol 230 

Boys, God's claim on bright.. 277 
Bread, God turns sand into.. 70 
idlers should not be given.. 220 
Bread and wine, not mere 
symbols in the Sacra- 
ment 57, 58, 102 

Sacramentarians have only 102 

Brewers, patron saint of 275 

Bride, Luther gives away a.. 223 

Bridegroom, prayer for a 223 

Builder, the Master 80 

Bullet, the death-dealing 172 

Burden, prosperity often a.... 38 
Burial, ceremonies connected 

with _ 74 

Burial-places, ancient 74 

Business, big and oppress- 
ive -...36-37 

C.SSAB, Christ above 110 
Call, congregation's, min- 
ister is made by the 158, 160 
only qualified persons 

should be given 153 

no one should exercise of- 
fice without 157, 159 

Call, the Gospel 253 

Calvinists, Lutherans cannot 

commune 58 

(See also Conversion, Elec- 
tion, and Predestination.) 
Canaanites, what is meant by 

affiliating with 107 

Caprice, may not deal with 

child according to 207 

Cares, unhappy on account of 71 

he is a lord who has no 81 

what makes them easy. .71, 211 



330 



What Dr. Martin Luther Says 



Page 

Carlstadt, a vagrary of 116 

self-will of 105 

Cat, fun for 871 

Catechism, is sum of Chris- 
tian doctrine 92 

surpasses works of Fathers 93 

as a touchstone _... 92 

should he appreciated 92 

must he taught hy the 

Church 92 

Caterpillar, type of devil 124 

Catholic, Lutheran, doctrine 

is that truly 124 

Campbellites, their conten- 
tion about creeds 121-131 

their opposition to human 

names 121 

find theology easy 131 

their "Believer's Baptism" 176 
take a position on Baptism 
that leaves nothing- se- 
cure 179-180 

Canons, papal, character of.... 198 

condoned fornication 41 

snares for conscience 141 

infractions punished 198 

Cannon, suggested hy devil . 172 

Carpers, ecclesiastical 182 

Cause, courage imparted by a 

good 173 

Ceremonies, danger in uni- 
formity 140 

may become snares 141 

in connection with burial.... 74 

such as foot-washing 181 

Cemeteries, origin of 74 

best ornaments for 74 

Chapel, where the devil lo- 
cates a 35 

Charity, is considerate of 

others 233 

farmers' lack of _... 67 

gambling always against ... 168 
should pray for 222 



Page 
Chastity, the dance a foe to.. 264 

a man dangerous to 42 

Chef, God as a 79 

Child, obedience of 266 

dancing of 264 

may not do as you please 

with your 276 

we act like a 116 

has happiest life 272 

must become a child to 

teach a 266 

Children, great sacredness 

about little 272 

kingdom of God belongs to 

little 178 

faith of 176-178 

pious 266 

Luther preaches to 136 

how to preach to 266 

should be taught Catechism 92 

should study diligently 266 

school attendance should 

be compulsory on 174 

should not be sent to un- 
christian schools 174 

unbaptized 180 

defective, main cause of.... 68 

punishment of 277 

those slain by Herod 177 

Adam's wretched 115, 171 

we are but lisping 116 

Chiliasm, a deceptive dream 144 

a dangerous doctrine 145 

Christ, Athanasian Creed 

sets forth Divinity of 91 

"for us," cardinal state- 
ment in the Nicene Creed 90 

our life 75 

in the heart 86 

in the Sacrament 215-216 

has transmuted death into 

life 115 

His resurrection the ear- 
nest of ours 75 



Index 



331 



Page 
Christ — Concluded 

speaks in Baptism 178 

wants little children 178 

grave Keys to whole con- 
gregation 152 

present in lord's Supper.... 

57, 58, 102, 215 
is coequal with the rather 91 
will have foes till end of 

time 146 

His enemies like furious 

bee 166 

His kingdom not earthly.... 145 
prevails against the devil 

35, 119 
representations of Him not 

sinful 261 

worship outside of 150 

what He calls being chosen 254 
Predestination solved in.... 251 

fidelity to 110 

mechanical obedience to.... 182 

must he confessed 122 

denial of teacher may in- 
volve denial of 122 

gave object lesson in hu- 
mility 181 

His Divinity attacked by 

insolence 165 

His merit obscured by pur- 
gatory 147 

Pope defames 198 

monk's cowl preferred to 

blood of 274 

Pope denies eflicacy of in- 
carnation 201, 202 

Pope claims to be vice- 
gerent of 200 

Pope altered Testament of 199 

Pope is adversary of 194 

Second Advent of 195 

will not set up corporeal 
kingdom 145 



Page 
Christians, have all spiritual 
treasures in common .155, 158 

are anointed 155 

are kings and priests 154 

all are priests but not pas- 
tors 159 

have office of ministry 

without pay 175 

their only sanctuary 53 

must teach the Word 156 

not bound by Moses 52 

are free where Word does 

not bind 51-52 

should live like sojourners 189 

must not grieve., 114 

are lords over death 154 

Antichrist is among the. .203-204 
must guard against Mil- 

lenarianism 144 

Church, what it is 97-99 

the primitive and the Lu- 
theran 124 

doctrine of 152-160 

the representative 159 

being reviled sign of the 

true 213 

must strive for unity 321 

how Satan torments under 

guise of 108 

the language question in 

the 243-245 

women to keep silence in 

the 153 

should assist indigent stu- 
dents 277 

Papists subject Bible to.... 118 
Pope multiplies sin in the 196 

the building 265 

pictures in the 260-261 

devil erects chapel beside 

the 35 

Cicero, an expression beyond 

him 171 

Cities, the shame of 41 



332 



What Dr. Martin Lather Says 



Page 
Clergy. (See Ministers, Pas- 
tors, and Preachers.) 

Clothes, decency and 85 

religion and 118 

"holy and consecrated" 54 

Colloquies, unity promoted by 321 

Colt, Pable of Wolf and 64 

Combines, organized to rain 

competitors 36 

justice defeated by 39 

individual responsibility in 38 
Government should sup- 
press 37 

Comfort, in Lord's Prayer... 92 

Bible has wealth of 89 

even winter speaks words 

of 187 

Commandments, God's, are 
the Doctrina Boc- 

trinarum 92 

the Pope's 196, 198 

Commodity, Some has turned 
the Lord's Supper into a 199 

Communion, the Holy 57, 182 

(See also Sacrament.) 
Communion, Open, a shocking 
practice for a Lutheran 

58, 100 
a matter of no moment to 

sects 58, 102 

Communism, not commanded 276 

Competition, unfair 36 

Compromise, doctrinal 

106, 110, 150, 162, 204 
Compulsion, military and ed- 
ucational 173—174 

Concord, the truth perpetu- 
ates 124-125 

Lutherans would gladly 

preserve 105 

we should strive and pray 

for 321 

must not be obtained at 
cost of truth 109 



Page 
Conduct, a man's toward Gos- 
pel _ 254 

at funerals 73 

Confession, the Augsburg. .93, 123 
Confessions, of the Lutheran 

Church 89-93, 123 

we must teach the doctrines 

of 124 

errorists have necessitated 126 
(See also Creeds.) 
Conferences, learned preacher 247 

for the sake of unity 321 

Confidence, a patient's 185 

Confiscation, a just punish- 
ment for combines 37 

Congratulations, wedding 223 

Congregation, the Keys given 

to the 152 

caU given by 158 

must have an administra- 
tor 157-158 

Conscience, a bad and a good 37 
happiness only in a good.... 38 
firmness necessitated by.... 110 
trust tactics are against.... 38 
rhetoric cannot vanquish.... 106 
Consolation, in bereavement.. 113 
Contentment, happiness piv- 
ots on 81 

universal lack of _ 188 

Control, of body 185 

of big business 37 

of liquor traffic 233 

Controversy, necessitates ex- 
position 126 

forms of expression and.... 190 
Conversion, doctrine of....245-248 

Israel's 196 

no postmortem 148-149 

Corn and wine, marvel of 66 

Corporations, objectionable .36-38 
Corpse, thoughts in presence 

of 73 

Cotta, Ursula, a saying of.... 171 



Index 



333 



Page 

Conch, the grave is a 74 

Councils, the Ancient, Lu- 
theran doctrine accords 

with 124 

Courage, right gives 173 

ground for 114 

preacher must have 108 

Covetousness, dissatisfaction 

of _._ 188 

of humanity 42 

of farmers _ ©7 

of gamblers 168 

of big business 36 

Cowboy, St. Wendelin is ev- 
ery man's 275 

Cowl, a superstitious use of.. 274 
Creation, harder to believe 

than Real Presence.- 215 

explained by Moses... 72 

Creatures, origin of 72 

use of 188 

medicine one of God's good 116 

Creed, the Apostles' 90 

the Nicene _ „ 90 

the Athanasian 91 

the Bible is not a 122, 126 

(See also Confessions.) 
Credo, we say c 1 e d o for.. 116 
Creeds, imperative necessity 

of 126 

Critics, a bellicose tribe 212 

Crucifixion, representations 

of 261 

Crying, of babies 273 

Culture, physical 263 

Cup, Pope robbed laity of 

the 199, 200 

Custom, ancient, in repeating 

the Nicene Creed 91 

an ancient German „ 231 

Customs, best if there is 

diversity of _ 140 

dare not become laws.... 140-141 
in connection with burial.... 74 



Page 

DANCE, public 264 
the childrens' 264 

Dancers, patron saint of 275 

Danes, language of _... 244 

Danger, from devil.. ..103, 173, 180 

from flesh 264 

from world 264 

from sects 107, 126 

from Papists 203 

Days, New Testament doc- 
trine of 50 

one no better than the other 52 
necessity demands fixed.. ..52-53 

the hallowing of 53 

Dayspring, the 66 

Dead, earth not revisited by 

the 40 

reverent burial should be 

given the Christian 74 

would not recall the sainted 114 
where primitive Christians 

buried their 74 

Death, kinds of 114 

ever at our heels 73, 172 

no conversion after 148-149 

Christ has overcome 75, 114 

Christians are lords over.... 154 

is but a servant now 115 

Decalogue, world is inverted 42 
Deer, how God has fitted it 

out _ _ 79 

Defamers 135, 212, 213 

Defectives, marriage of 68 

Definitions, verbal differences 

in _ 190 

Degree, devil has no doctor's 35 
Delight, real joy and childish 86 

Delusion, a horrible 274 

Demi-monde, aping the 85 

Demons, God not responsible 

for 117 

Demosthenes, a phrase he 
could not coin 171 



334 



What Dr. Martin Luther Says 



Page 
Denial, of Christ and of 

teachers 122-123 

Dentist, St. Apollonia is the 

Papal 276 

Despair, Predestination and 248 

Devil, God's ape 35 

has great experience 35 

tempts under guise of 

Church 108 

tempted Christ himself 119 

tempts with election 248 

tavern of 171 

enemy of Christian schools 173 
chuckles at Anabaptist rea- 
soning- 180 

firearms sugrg-ested by 172 

has spoiled all beer 229 

caterpillar, a type of 124 

flies are images of 184 

ways to rout the 119 

how Luther would smite the 5 

Christ prevails against 35 

is originator of Papacy 197 

papal leaders are mouth- 
pieces of 200 

Devil, the drink 229-236 

each country has its own... 230 

Diogenes, an opinion of 76 

Diseases, the many kinds of 115 
Dissatisfaction, of covetous- 

ness 188 

Distrust, an illustration of.... 72 
Divines, antagonistic in faith 104 
Divisions, responsibility for 

105, 126 
Doctor, when the farmer is a 67 
Doctors, of poor pupils God 

often makes great 277 

Doctors of Divinity, flowers 

must be our 115 

Doctrine, the Bible is rich in 89 

the sum of Christian 92 

touchstone of true 92, 108 



Page 
Doctrine— Concluded 
we must be certain of 

the 108, 124 

must guard against false .92, 126 
irrespective of person we 

must confess the 122 

identical with God's Word 
and primitive Church is 

Lutheran 124 

not responsible for sects is 

Lutheran 117 

denial of teacher may be 

denial of 122-123 

Papists should be put to 

shame with their own 203 

Dog, a faithful animal 63 

Donkey, God can use a 121 

bad venture for a 103 

Dread, Predestination works 

248, 251 
Dream, Chiliasm a deceptive 144 
Dress, objectionable female 85 

as part of religion 118 

Papal superstition in con- 
nection with 274 

Drink, water is noblest..... 73 

intoxicating 229-236 

ruin wrought by 230-231 

Germans given to 230 

preachers oppose ruin caused 

by 230, 236 

personal liberty in connec- 
tion with 233, 241 

regulation of traffic in 233 

Drugs. (See Medicines.) 
Drunkenness, in Germany 229-232 
Duerer, his preference in 

paintings 138 

Dunkards, their theology 131 

their baptism 175-180 

their foot-washing 181-182 

their garb 118 

meet occupation for some 
theologians of the 183 



Index 



335 



Page 

Dust, man made of 170 

Dutch, the full 230 

EARTH, man to subdue the 69 
one of the sweetest pleas- 
ures of 171, 217 

God compounds medicines 

of 185 

Education, bequests for 277 

child's right to an 276 

compulsory 173 

devil is the foe of Chris- 
tian 174 

Egg, marvel of 72 

Egotism 212 

Election 248-255 

man's conduct in relation to 254 

in view of faith 255 

of this or that man 252 

God not to he blamed in .252, 253 
Emergency, acts of laymen 

in cases of 158 

Emperor, man without care 

is an 81 

Emser, his attitude towards 

Bible 118 

England, Germany is related 

to 244 

English, in the Church 244-245 

Envy, a common sin 188 

Erasmus, St., patron of mis- 
ers 275 

Ernst, Count of Mansfeldt, 

anecdote of 65 

Error, even crassest finds ad- 
herents 116 

sects exalt their 105 

sects exist for the sake of 

their 106 

Esau and Jacob, astrological 

case of 263 

Eugenics 68 

Evasion, theological 

125, 129, 147, 199 



Page 

Eve, name of 170 

Evil, the social .41-42 

Example, injury of bad 41 

ox and ass, man's 68 

Examples, Papists should be 
put to shame with their 

own 203 

Excitement, speaker aided by 132 
Exercise, preserves health.... 263 

the baby's 273 

Exhortation, the Bible con- 
tains much 89 

Exile, trnst magnates deserve 37 
Experience, an exacting 

teacher 78 

Extortioners, combines and 

trusts are 36 

Eye-doctors, papal 276 

P'ABIiE, of Ape and Wood- 

* chopper 249 

of Colt and Wolf 64-65 

of Wolf and Sheep 105 

Fables, reason for inventing.. 64 
value of .ZSsop's 64 

Paith, what it is 94 

election in view of 255 

children's 176-178 

the infant St. John's 177 

not visible 176 

might of 115 

firmness of, not obstinacy.. 110 
relation of good works to..94-95 
some mean work when they 

speak of 180 

perseverence in 255 

ceremonies must not be- 
come articles of 140 

Pope makes articles of 200 

Familiarity breeds indiffer- 
ence 66 

Famine, war worse than 172 

Farmer, weather regulated 
by a 164 



336 



What Dr. Martin Luther Says 



Page 
Farmers, fine calling: of... .66, 188 

covetonsness of 67, 188 

ingratitude of 67 

unworthiness of 67 

Farmingr, a divine employ- 
ment _ — 69 

Father, God our 71 

revealed in Christ — 248 

Fathers, Church, Catechism 
excels the works of the.. 93 

Faultfinders 164, 212, 255 

Fees, experience exacts heavy 78 
not charged for Divine 

treasures 175 

Fellowship, wrong- Church 

58, 100-110 

pulpit _ 104 

altar „„ 58 

when most dangerous 107 

purchased at cost of Word 106 
what follows when prin- 
ciple is ignored 107 

a righteous conscience will 

not permit 110 

Fetters, Church customs must 

not become 140 

Fields, plentiful yield of ...71, 188 
Fidelity to Christ and teach- 
ers „ 122 

Filthiness, a certain priest's.. 184 

Fingers, the farmer's 67 

Firearms, the devil suggested 172 

a grief spared Adam 77 

Firmness in the faith 106-110 

Flatterer, the _ 76 

Fleas, priest's regard for 184 

Flesh, dance is of tfie 264 

Fly, image of devil and here- 
tics _ 184 

Flower, life is like a 75 

Flowers, must be our Doctors 

of Divinity 115 

Foreknowledge, God's 255 

Foreordinatdon 



Food, provided by Ood .42, Tl 

supply manipulated by 

man „ _ .36-37 

Fools, good fortune makes. 38, 164 

God's secrets sought by 248 

Foot-washing, what Christ 

taught by _ 181 

not part of Lord's Supper.... 182 

a bath preferable to 181 

Fornication 41 

Fortune, swollen 37 

slaves of 37 

strong legs required by 38 

fools made by 164 

Fowls. (See Birds.) 

French, the 172 

Frost, language of 186 

Fund, students' beneficiary.... 277 

Funerals „..73-74 

Fury, illustration of blind 166 

GAMEIEES 168 
Game, war is a losing 173 

Garb, no religion in 118 

God sometimes wears beg- 
gar's 81 

superstition with reference 

to 274 

Garden, for pious children 268 

Genealogy, the Antichrist's.. 192 
German, would not limit 

preachers to .244-245 

High German, not real 244 

Germans, reform needed by.. 229 
Germany, England related to 244 

drunkenness in 229-232 

first brewer a pest to 229 

a shame of 230 

swill is the devil of 230 

Ghost, Holy, Bible Is the work 

of ._ 89 

works through Baptism. 178 

regenerates 49 



Index 



337 



Page 
Ghost, Holy- — Concluded 

grave manifold tongues 245 

Ghosts, there are no 40 

Gift, a good wife is God's.... 223 
a prudent physician is God's 185 

printing is a great 34 

sleep is a divine _ 66 

a good one for God , 113 

Gifts, the Gospel's are price- 
less 175 

Giving, to Church 175 

to education 277 

to neighbors 67, 222 

to tramps 220 

Gloom, God is foe to all 169 

Glory, woman's chief 171 

God, derivation of word — 72 

operates through means 

116, 178 

our Father 71 

His love precedes ours 272 

creates the clean heart 63 

His promise is universal.... 252 
why He elects certain per- 
sons 252 

creative word of 72 

His expense in feeding the 

birds 70 

bestows abundant food. 71, 186 

is ever working wonders 66 

wills that we be merry 188 

retains sea by wall of sand 213 

gives the harvest 42, 71 

turns sand and stone into 

bread 70 

provides raiment 115 

speaks through snow and 

ice 186 

can speak through a donkey 121 

made medicine 185 

works at all trades 79 

promotes Gospel by art of 

printing 34 

is our steward 71 



Fage 

God — Concluded 
everyday miracles of ..65, 66, 70 

works like a compositor. 62 

is a builder 80 

may be served everywhere 210 
promises blessing to obedi- 
ent children 266, 268 

consoles 114 

wishes us no harm .... 72 

is not unjust 180 

mitigates our punishment.... 

69, 79 
delights in preparing sur- 
prises 223 

smiles at the learned cler- 
ical conferences 247 

is pleased by a clean joke.... 169 

needs pastors and rulers 277 

not cause of sectarianism... 117 
a doctrine that makes men 

angry at 253 

some men invent a 150 

is not mocked 65 

devil is ape of 35 

a good gift for 113 

a stench in the nostrils of 85 
papal reasoning makes a 

sinner of 117 

Antichrist sits in temple of 202 
Papists claimed Pope is an 

earthly .200-201 

Pope exalts himself above 

198-200 
purgatory depreciates grace 

of „ _. 148 

God's Word. (See Bible, Scrip- 
ture, and Word.) 
Gold and gems, as adornment 85 

Gospel, beyond price 171 

proclaimed universally 254 

promises are universal 252 

sunrise illustration of 65 

man's conduct towards 254 



338 



What Dr. Martin Luther Says 



Page 
Gospel — Concluded 

Christians obligated to prop- 
agate the 156 

suppressed by the Pope.... 

196, 200 

printing, great aid of 34 

a way Germans should be 

grateful for the 229 

Good, God's name derived 

from word 72 

Goods, how to use your. .37, 189 
Government, civil, God needs 

good men in 277 

not always right 41 

should stop mating of the 

unfit 68 

should compel school at- 
tendance 173-174 

should suppress houses of 

ill fame 41 

should legislate on drink 

traftlc 233 

should take trusts in hand 37 
children should be trained 

to take part in 276 

devil is enemy of good 174 

Gown, clerical, Luther spits 

on his 137 

Grace, virtually nullified by 

Pope 201-202 

depreciated by purgatory.. 148 
Grace, Means of, given to 

congregation 155, 158 

no pay taken for 175 

(See also Bible, Baptism, 
and Sacrament.) 

Grave, the 75 

Graveyard, origin of 74 

Greed, of humanity 188 

of farmers 67 

of trusts 36 

of gamblers 168 

Grief, must have hope in 114 

Adam spared one 77 



Pag. 
Ground, man taken out of the 170 
Guns, grief-bearing instru- 
ments 77 

inventions suggested by 

the devil 172 

Gymnastics _ 263 

HAILSTONES, language of 187 
Hands, the laying on of 160 
Happiness, in Christ unal- 
loyed 251 

a very wholesome 188 

a good conscience brings.... 38 
a right view of toil con- 
tributes to 210-211 

little childrens' 272 

wealth does not give 81 

Harvest, God gives the ...66, 71 

the joy of the 187 

thanksgiving for the 67 

Health, exercise preserves. . 263 

benefit of rules of 66 

irksomeness of rules of 81, 184 
Heart, only God can renew 

the 63 

a penitent 113 

more than wealth is a 

merry 81 

a pleasure that touches the 38 
the most exalted joy of the 86 
Heartaches, he is an emperor 

who has no 81 

Heathen, rulers who tolerate 
social evil should be re- 
garded as 41 

burial services of ancient . 74 
Hell, the only destination for 

the wicked is 147 

a bad conscience is 37 

Herdmen, the patron saint of 275 
Heresiarch, Luther regarded 

as the great 256 

Heresy, Papists charge Bible 
with being the fount of.. 118 



Index 



339 



Page 
Heresy — Concluded 

always finds adherents 116 

necessitates confessions of 

faith 126 

dare not he fellowshiped... . 

58, 100-110 
Heretics, flies are imag-es of 184 
Heredity, defects transmitted 

by 68 

Herod, innocents slain toy 177 

Hilary, St., on what is to he 

taught 126 

History, unreliability of 134 

requires a courageous au- 
thor 133 

should he written with care 134 
should he portrayed on 

walls 260 

Hog, an intractable brute 63 

the blackguard is a 170 

the defamer is a 135 

drunkard leads life of a.... 236 

Holidays 50-52 

Holsdorf, the farmers of 189 

Homer, Luther studies 209 

Honesty, combines are foes of 39 

Honor, deceptive 188 

Horoscopes, the casting of.... 262 

Hope, farming a work of 66 

Horse, proverbs of 63, 188 

how Wiseacre bridles the.. 256 

Host, where the devil is 171 

House, God's 265 

Houses of ill fame 41 

Housemaid, a servant of God 210 

Humility, Christ teaches 181 

bogus 181 

assumed by sectaries 107 

Husband, a great gift is pi- 
ous 223 

Husbandman. (See Farmer.) 
Hymn, anecdote of Reforma- 
tion 65 

Xmther's Cradle 280 



Page 

ICE, God speaks through 186 
Iconoclasts 260-261 

Idlers, should not be encour- 
aged 220 

Idol, booze is a German 230 

Idolatry, all worship outside 

of Christ is 150 

faith in signs of zodiac is.. 69 
placing world's favor above 

God's truth is 107 

papal, should ever be ex- 
posed 203 

Ignorance, devil would pro- 
mote 173 

sectaries show 183 

Illness, many kinds of 115 

worry causes 185 

Illustrations — 
of God's love — parental af- 
fection 272 

of Providence — the flowers 115 
of Heal Presence — soul and 

body 216 

of Bible — an orchard 89 

of gathering truth — the 

honey bee 90 

of ministerial office — an ad- 
ministrator 157 

of sermons — Duerer's esti- 
mate of pictures 138 

of unionism — the murderer 109 

of life — the flower 75 

of happiness — the birds 71 

of wrong valuation — the 

wormy apple 188 

of original sin — the beard.. 163 
of temptation — the birds 

overhead 119 

of foolish distrust — the bird 72 
of reckless fury — the bee.. 166 
of the lie — the snowball.... 221 

the snake 80 

of drunkenness — the sea 
and dropsy 231 



340 



What Dr. Martin Luther Says 



Pare 

Ulurtrations — Concluded 
of proper handling of goods 
— the shoemaker and his 

tool* _ 189 

of the proper use of wealth 

— the flowing' stream 37 

of war — net of gold 173 

of world — the drunken 

farmer — 138 

images, mental and material 261 
Imitators, of the demi-monde 85 

a fable for _ 249 

Immersionists, rationalism 

of 176-180 

a work devil among 1 180 

uncertainty of 176 

their groundless argument 
against Infant Bap- 
tism _ 176-180 

Immodesty, in apparel 85 

in dance 264 

Immortality, death trans- 
muted into 118 

Incarnation, chief thing in 

ITicene Creed _ 90 

harder of comprehension 

than Real Presence 215 

solves Predestination 251 

Pope denies efficacy of 201 

Indifference, doctrinal 

105-109, 150, 166 
Indolence, prosperity breeds.. 164 
Infants, faith and baptism 

of 176-180 

nnbaptized „ 180 

Infidels, conceit of 166 

Inscriptions for monuments.. 74 

Inspiration of Bible 89 

Instruction, Bible contains 

wealth of 89 

promoters of trusts do not 

deserve _ 36 

the Word must be basis of 174 
the fable as a means of 64 



Instruments, grief-producing 
Intemperance, German 
Interpretation, of Scripture, 

unity of Bible must not 

be overlooked in 197 

not more than one meaning 

dare be given by 199 

the Pope's assumption in.. 200 

Israel, conversion of all 196 

Italians, social evil condoned 

by 41 

Italy, Germany less sober 

than _ 230 

JABBEBING, preachers 
should ignore world's 138 

foolishness of the infidel's 166 

Jews, conversion of 196 

the reliable history of _ 184 

the deceptive dreams of the 144 
John the Baptist, faith of In- 
fant _ 177 

Joke, God is pleased with a 

clean _ 169 

Joy, the most exalted 86 

Jndas, Christ not responsible 

for defection of ~ _ 118 

the halter of _ _.. 226 

Judgment, after death the .... 

147-149 
Judgment day, may come at 

any time 196 

Julia, St., papal specialist for 

sore eyes _ 276 

Justice, combines inimlcable 

to _ 39 

Justification by faith 902 

KBTS, Office of the, given 
the whole congregation.. 152 
King, superstition is a bane- 
ful _ 69 

Kings, believers are 1*4 



Index 



341 



Fag-e 

LABOR, commanded by 
God „ 69, 119 

a divine service.. _ 210 

happiness promoted by.. 211 

Language, each has peculiari- 
ties 91 

as a Chnrch question.. ..244-245 
Languages, Danish, English, 

German, and Saxon 244 

Latitudinarianism, wrong of 

108-109 

nncharitableness of 106 

Law, custom must not be 

made Chnrch 141 

ceremonial, not binding on 

Christians 50-52 

infractions of the Pope's.... 198 
Lay Bible, Catechism is a 

real _ 92 

Laymen desire firm teachers 104 
should support ministers.... 175 

in acts of emergency 157-158 

Leech, a young 185 

Legislation, on combines and 

trusts 37 

on drink traffic 233 

on education 173-174 

on eugenics 68 

on social evil _ 41 

Libel, authors who 134 

Liberty, personal 233 

Lice, a priest's regard for 184 

Lie, like a snake 80 

like a snowball 221 

Lies, sectarian, on concord.... 106 

papal, on their history 203 

Life, source of human 171 

embryonic is present 115 

a God-pleasing 54 

child's is happiest 272 

flower Illustrates 75 

a sorry sort of._ 184 

a veritable hog- 236 



Page 
Life, eternal, through Christ 

75, 115 
have absolute assurance of 114 
Liturgies. (See Ceremonies 
and Customs.) 

Lodge .._ .149-150 

Logic, sectarian 125 

papal 118 

Loopholes 199 

Lord's Supper. (See Sacra- 
ment.) 
Louis, St., patron of brewers 275 

Love, God's precedes ours 272 

reprobation and God's. .252-253 

of God's house 265 

a good woman's 171, 217 

gambling always against.... 168 
is considerate of the weak 233 

at expense of the "Word 106 

should pray God for 222 

Luther begged bread 234 

saying of his Eisenach 

hostess ~ 171 

reads through Bible twice 

each year 89 

does not find divinity so 

easy _ 131 

desires no miracle 109 

is sure of his doctrine .108, 124 

his doctrine is Christ's 123 

is impatient of ceremonies 141 
his opinion of Augsburg 

Confession 93 

stands on Unaltered Augs- 
burg Confession 123 

opposed to compromises.... 

110, 162 204 
would not fellowship deni- 

ers of Seal Presence 58 

the peace he would not 

have _ 106, 109 

opposed to union without 
unity 110 



342 



What Dr. Martin Luther Says 



Page 

Luther — Continued 

puts Christ above Caesar... 110 

never held with fanatics.... 230 

how he opposed the devil.. 120 

temptations 119 

was plagued by Predestina- 
tion 248 

held to he greatest heretic 256 
not father of sects 105-106, 117 

preaches Christ only 121 

does not like to preach to 

the learned 136 

his only fear as a preacher 138 

prefers simple sermons 138 

spits on his clerical gown . 137 

comforts the sick 113 

cheers the sad hearted 114 

allays fears on Predestina- 
tion 251 

at a wedding- 223 

how he would get an obedi- 
ent wife 171 

among the children 234, 266, 272 

preaches to children 136 

dislikes to talk of sex 41 

his gratitude 67 

deplores his hastiness 193 

under excitement 132 

not familiar with court 

usage 227 

would hurl thunderbolts at 

Papacy 193 

his resignation 62, 111, 114 

detests flies 184 

likes music and gymnastics 263 
regrets lack of time for po- 
etry and rhetoric 209 

translated some of iEsop 64 

eats what he likes 184 

has ringing in his ears 209 

suffers from renal stones.. 62 

rules for retiring 66 

his physicians complain of 
him 81 ' 



Page 

Luther — Concluded 

dissatisfied with himself... 

121, 193 
pleased that scurrilous 
books are written against 

him 213 

wrong to deny him 122-123 

marvels at world's changes 168 
world cannot brook him. .67, 297 

sent a saint to heaven 114 

would not care to live with- 
out Christ 75 

devil may get him if — if 

he can 121 

Lutherans, do not believe in 

Luther 121 

their doctrine is Christ's 123 
are truly apostolic in teach- 
ing 124 

are held by the "Word 121 

cannot have open Commun- 
ion 58, 100 

must not be ashamed of 

their name 123 

Lying, an easy trade 80 

in God's name 108-109 

MACHINES, cruel and de- 
structive 172 

Maids, should be shielded 170 

Man, formed of the dust .166, 170 

dependent on God 70 

spoiled by prosperity 164 

his eyes are holden 

66, 70, 71, 166 

distrusts God 72 

his conduct towards the 

Gospel 254 

is to blame if not elected.. 252 

is never satisfied 188 

should know his limitations 

165-166 

cannot make a rose 228 

should not be proud 170 



Index 



343 



Page 
wheat as great 'mir- 
acle as ._ 66 

Market, method of controling 

the „ 36 

cornering" of the wheat 37 

Marriage, a blessed estate 

170, 223 

at an early age _ 170 

of the unfit 68 

Martyrs, hnrial-plaoes of 74 

sectaries pose as 106 

Matrimony, who shonld not 

enter 272 

Marvel, of all creatures 215 

of harvest 66, 70 

of egg 72 

Means, God operates through 116 
Medicine, made by God. ..116, 185 

right to use 117 

no sensible man despises 185 

Melancholy, music dispels 263 

Melanchthon, Luther does not 

want him as an auditor.. 136 
Millenarianlsm, Christ not 

understood by 145 

its groundless hope 145 

Millennium, a Judaistic dream 144 

how Luther counted the 146 

Might, not always victorious 173 

Mind, body Influenced by 185 

Minister, must have call 157 

must be of good repute.. 218 

Ministers, ordination of 156-160 

a baptism illustrates need 

Of _ _„ 158 

linguistic ability of _ 244 

support of 175 

rights must not be usurped 159 
do not take money for di- 
vine gifts _ _ 175 

Ministry, Office of the ..157-160 

demanded by order 158 

22* 



Page 

Ministry — Concluded 
without pay Christians have 

the _ 175 

only well qualified men 

should be called to the.... 153 
women dare not be called 

to the 153 

its appeal to parents of 

boys _. 277 

Miracle, of loaves and fishes 
compared with harvest.... 70 

of the day 65 

of taking wine and corn 

from the earth 66 

of turning sand into bread 70 

Anthers asks no.... 109 

Misers, patron saint of 275 

Money, preaching not done 

for 175 

fools often made by „... 38 

Monopoly, sins of 36 

Monuments, proper inscrip- 
tions for _ _... 74 

Mortals, should not be proud 170 
Mortality, occasion to think of 73 

flower illustrates 75 

Moses, Christians not bound 

by „ „ 52 

naturalists excelled by 72 

Motherhood, woman's chief 

glory _ 171 

Mouse, death for 271 

Muck-rakers „.135, 213 

Muenzer, evasion of.. 125 

Music, a noble art 263 



N' 



AME, of Eve 170 

of Cod _ 72 

Names, denominational 121-123 
Naturalist, Moses explains 
more than the 72 



344 



What Dr. Martin Luther Says 



Pag* 

Hecessity, in cases of 157, 158 

diversity of ceremonies de- 
manded toy _ 140 

Necromancy, Is forbidden 40 

XTet, war is like a golden „. 173 

nonsense, of learned pates.... 262 
God ii pleased with some.. 169 
Worm, of doctrine, God's 
"Word is only 126 

OATH, the unnecessary 149 
Obedience, mechanical 182 

ox and ass teach lesson In.. 68 
blessing- is promised the 

child's ...._ 266 

Pope demands _ .198, 200 

Obstinacy, firmness In faith 

is not 110 

Occupation, when blessed 210 

the Christian's toest._ 224 

a fit one for ignorant 

preachers 183 

CEcolampadins 105 

Offence, charity will not give 233 

Opinion, faith is not... _ 94 

man not saved by his 148 

Opportunity, lewdness pro- 
moted by _ 42 

Orator, excitement helpful to 

an _ „... 132 

Orchard, Bible like an _ 89 

Order demands ministers. 157-159 
Ordination, teaching without 156 

need not be by bishops 158 

is benediction and seal 160 

Ornaments, woman's most 

precious 85, 171 

Outsiders, ministers reputa- 
tion among 218 

Ownership, common, imprac- 
tical _ 276 

Ox, as our teacher _ 68 



D AIM TUT OB, mural 260 

» Dueler's preference 138 

Papacy, hails from the devil 197 

must be warned against 192 

youth should be instructed 

on the 192, 908 

is not to toe trusted 208 

Papists, claimed Pope la an 

earthly god 201 

say Pope may alter and re- 
peal Scripture » 200 

would pervert history 208 

deny that Christ bought 

them „ _ _ 202 

a specimen of their logic.— 118 

should toe exposed 203 

Paradise, a good conscience 

is a _ 88 

the farmer might have a.... 188 
Pardon, for sin, could not toe 

paid for _ „.... 175 

Parents, Ood's love like that 

of „ _ 272 

may not do as they list 

with children _ 278 

should toe compelled to send 

children to school 174 

warned against non-relig- 
ious schools _ 174 

should rear children to serve 

Church and State 272 

Parish, a pastor must have a 159 

Parties, names of 121-123 

F a r u s 1 e, the 195 

Pastime, fine _ 263 

Pastor, every Christian Is not 

a „ „ 159 

call and command make 

a 158, 160 

must toe in good repute 218 

must have consistent prac- 
tice „ _ _„ 58 

Patience, this life demands.... 82 



Index 



345 



Page 
Patriotism, has claim on par- 
ents _ — 277 

Panl, St., describe* and ex- 
poses the Antichrist 

194, 202-203 
Timothy Is not to be 

ashamed of 122 

Paupers, mock-humility of 

washing: feet of 181 

(Bee also Beg/gars.) 

Peace, of mind.. 37, 81, 251 

sectarians disturb the 106 

at any price 106, 109 

by compromising 1 the Word 204 

an accursed 106 

with Papists 204 

Pen, fight devil with „ 5 

Perdition, Son of 196 

Pest, brewer a German 229 

Pestilence, war worse than.. 172 

Physician, a gift of God.. 185 

life according: to rules 

Of 81, 184 

what is needed by a young 185 
Pitch, the devil has spoiled 

all beer with his _ 229 

Pictures, as church decora- 
tions 260-261 

mental 261 

Duerer's preference in 138 

Plague, Germany's 230 

war, a dire 172 

Planets, superstition in con- 
nection with 69, 262 

Planting, a work of hope 66 

according: to signs 69 

Play, worth while child's 267 

Pleasure, genuine 38 

woman's love a sweet 171 

Poetry, a divine gift _.. 210 

Points, the Pour. (See Chil- 
iasm, Altar-fellowship, 
Pulpit-fellowship, and 
Lodge.) 



Page 

Polemicists, defamatory 

135, 212, 213 

Polity, wrong Church — 58 

Poor, the worthy, should be 

helped ..„ 220 

Pope, sits In church as a 

god 196, 202 

said to be an earthly 

god .._ -200, 201 

demands his voice be taken 

for Christ's .„ 200 

claims to be over the Bible 200 
has altered Christ's Testa- 
ment _ 199 

claims to give Scripture 

authority 203 

more zealous of his law 

than of God's 198 

denies fruit of Incarnation 201 
is against trusting wholly 

in Christ's righteousness 202 
exalts himself above God.. 199 
his mock-humility of foot- 
washing _ 181 

St. Paul exposes the knave 194 
bears marks of the Anti- 
christ 200 

his spirit is of the devil... 202 
is man of sin and son of 

perdition 196 

is apostle of the devil 194 

Popedom, a crass supersti- 
tion of _ 274 

Popularity, danger of seeking 107 
Possessions, how to use ...37, 189 
Prayer, the Christian's best 

occupation _ 224 

Is Incense to God 43 

should not be voluble 113 

for Church unity 321 

against war 173 

a bridegroom's — 223 

a help in study 163 

the Holsdorf rustic's idea of 189 



346 



What Dr. Martin Luther Says 



Page 
Prayer, the Lord's, is the 

Oratio Dominica.... 92 
Preacher, must have a 

call .„ „ _„ -.157-160 

must proclaim God's Word 

only „ 108 

must be certain of his doc- 
trine „ „.. 108 

must he of good repnte 218 

should he able to use more 

than one language 244 

is made efficient by tempta- 
tion 120 

is paid only for his trouble 175 
the kind the laity desires.. 104 
how Christ regards treat- 
ment of _ 122 

best and poorest 137 

a hardened 58 

blinded by favor, wealth, 

and power „.. 107 

what world wants in a 138 

ill oomes of setting light by 170 
Preaching;, vastly different 

from what we think 137 

must be founded on Word 

only 108 

those not qualified for of- 
fice of 153 

to children _ „ _ 266 

Preceptors, flowers as our . 115 

ox and ass as our 68 

Predestination _..248-255 

flee thoughts of 248 

brings torment _ 248 

turn to Christ from_ 250 

the place to begin in .. 248-249 

solved in Christ _. 251 

why some were not in- 
cluded in God's 255 

Prescience 255 

Presence, the Beal 

57-58, 102, 215, 216 
Presumption, a case of 65 



*nre 

Pride, a stench to God 85 

no reason for mortal 170 

Priest, an indolent Soman 274 

a filthy Roman... 184 

every believer is a 155, 158 

Priesthood, of believers 153 

women belong to 153 

Printer, Providence like a 62 

Printing, the art of 34 

Promise, God's universal 252 

Promises, Bible has wealth 

of „ 89 

Property, of trusts.- 37 

no command for common 

ownership of „ 276 

Prosperity, danger of 38 

some spoiled by 164 

Protection, of little children 272 
Providence, Divine, cares for 

world 70, 71, 115 

could not be improved by 

man 164 

is exercised daily 71, 277 

has good purpose in afflic- 
tion „ 62 

Pupils, poor, what God some- 
times makes of 277 

should not be despised 234 

Church should assist 277 

Punishment, God mitigates 

our 79 

Punishment, corporal _ 277 

Purgatory, unscriptural 147 

QUAHBEliS, church, must 
be forgotten _ 321 

Question, the Language.. 244-245 

the Drink ..„ _. .229-236 

Quill, smite devil with a 5 



R 



AIMENT, God provides. .79, 115 

Bain, a saying about 164 

a blessing „ 43 



Index 



347 



Fags 

Bationalism, of Anabaptists 176 

of universities 174 

of Sacramentarians _ _ 215 

Season, in matters of divinity 165 

theology goes beyond... 215 

even earthly thing's baffle.. 165 

starts wrong 248 

would measure ocean with 

spoon „ 215 

Redemption, Papists curtail.. 202 

Regeneration 49 

Belies, worthlessness of 54 

Judas's halter one of the 

precious _ - 226 

Religion, child must be 

taugrht .._ _..92, 174 

war destroys _ 172 

Remedies, bodily... 116, 117, 185 

Best, day of. 52 

need of _ 52, 66 

Resignation 62, 114 

Resurrection, Christ's, our 

hope 75 

its bearing on funeral cere- 
monies 74 

Reputation, the minister's.... 218 

Revelation, now complete 40 

Reviewers 212, 213 

Rhetoric, conscience not to 

be hoodwinked by 106 

Riches, deceptive 188 

dangerous _ 38, 164 

happiness not dependent on 81 
Righteousness, Pope against 
putting trust in Christ's 202 
attributed to Pope's com- 
mandments 199 

Bights, all Christians have 

equal 152, 158 

order and the exercise 

of _ 157, 159 

emergency, and the exercise 

Of . „.._ 157, 158 

respect for pastor's 159 



Page 

Bights — Concluded 
love and the exercise of 233 

Bobbers, combines are 36 

gamblers are 168 

Bod, use of 277 

Romanism, has not changed.. 203 

is not to be trusted 204 

(See also Papacy, Papists, 
and Pope.) 

Rose, if a man were able to 
make a 228 

Bufinus, explanation of Creed 
by „ 99 

Ruin, Christ's enemies pre- 
fer _ 166 

wrought by war 172 

caused by drink 331 

effected by trusts 36 

caused by loose government 41 

Rule, Golden, gambling 

against ._ 168 

Bulers, pious and wise _. 41 

God needs 277 

Rules, physicians' 184 

of health 66 

SABBATH, Old Testament, 
abrogated .50-52 

Sabbath day, how kept holy.. 242 
Sabbatarians, Scripture 

against _ 51 

Sacrament, of the Altar, what 

it is „ 57 

not merely symbolical 215 

Real Presence of Christ 

in 57, 58, 102, 215 

creation of universe as 
mysterious as Christ's 

presence in — 215 

who is excluded from the.. 58 

a case of exclusion... 189 

foot-washing no part of 182 

externalities in connection 
with the 182 



348 



What Dr. Martin Luther Says 



Fag* 
Sacrament — Concluded 

mutilated by Borne 199 

obscured by Fope 196 

commercialized by Fope.... 199 

made void by sects 58, 102 

of Holy Baptism. (See 
Baptism.) 

Sacramentarians 100, 102 

Sacraments, are the Cere- 
m o n i ae Ceremonia- 

rum 92 

are seals ef grace 92 

Sacrifice, Gospel asks 254 

Saints, communion of 97 

the sanctifying- of 54 

fanatics pose as 106 

invocation of .275-276 

Salvation, only in Christ 122 

the sum of doctrine needed 

for 92 

Lutherans do not trust in 

Luther for 121 

Sanctification 54 

Sanctuary, the Word is the 

only 53 

Sand, God makes bread of 70 

God holds back the sea 

with _ 213 

Satan, temptations of 119 

chaining- of 146 

torments under guise of 

Church 108 

Saturday, Sabbatarians should 

keep 51 

Savior, tempted of the devil 119 

Savants, Moses excels all 72 

Saxon, languages derived from 

the __ 244 

Schism, responsibility for in 

general 117 

responsibility for Frotest- 

ant 105-106 

way to get rid of Lutheran 321 
Scholarships 277 



Fage 

Scholastica, St., runs papal 

weather bureau 276 

School, the Christian 173-174 

God's Word in 174 

devil enemy of 173 

warning against rationalis- 
tic 174 

Science, Christian 116, 185 

Scolding, women should pray 

before 275 

Scripture, complete revela- 
tion 40 

interpretation must be in 

harmony with all 197 

must not give more than 

one sense to 199 

credal truth gathered from 90 
summaries of its passages 

necessary 126 

should be inscribed on 

tombstones _ 74 

does not mention purgatory 147 
the claim that Fope gives 

authority to 203 

Scripture, references to— 

Gen. i. 20 72 

Gen. i. 28 69 

Gen. xviii. 27 170 

Ex. xx. 12 179 

Deut. xviii. 10 „ 40 

Fs. xlv. 7 _.. 155 

Fs. li. 10 63 

Fs. 11. 13 156 

Fs. xc. 1-2 80 

Fs. cvi. 37-38 176 

Fs. ex. 1 „.... 146 

Fs. cxlvii. 16 187 

Frov. xii. 10 63 

Isa. xxviii. 20 39 

Isa. lv. 11 178 

Matt. ii. 16 177 

Matt. iv. 4 70 

Matt. V. 11 213 

Matt. x. 8 „ 175 



Index 



349 



Page 
Scripture references — Concluded. 

Matt. x. 10 175 

Matt. x. 32 „_ 128 

Matt. x. 40 _ 122 

Matt. xii. 8 50 

Matt, xviii. 10. .. 272 

Matt. xix. 12 272 

Matt. xix. 14 177, 178 

Matt. xxii. 14.„ 253 

Matt. xxv. 42 37 

Mark v. 39 75 

Mark xvi. 16 176 

Luke x. 16 122 

Luke xvi. 31 40 

John vi. 45 155 

Join xi. 11 75 

John xiv. 19 75 

Bom. iii. 28 202 

I Cor. vi. 9-10 41 

I Cor. viii. 13 233 

I Cor. xi. 29 182 

I Cor. xiv. 34 153 

II Cor. iv. 13_ 156 

Gal. iv. 10-11 51 

GaL v. 1. 183 

Gal. vi. 6 _ „ 175 

Gal. vi. 7 65 

Col. ii. 16-17 51 

n Thes. ii. 1-12 194 

H. Thes. ii. 4 202 

I Tim. ii. 12 153 

X Tim. V. 18. 175 

H Tim. i. 8 122 

Titus iii. 5-6 

Heb. ix. 27 148 

Heb. xi. 1 183 

Heb. xiii. 4 41 

I Peter ii. 9 152-160 

I Peter iv. 11 108 

H Peter ii. 1 202 

H Peter iii. 8 194 

I John i. 7 _ 202 

I John ii. 19 117 

I John iv. 3 201 



Pag* 

Scripture, Holy, the only norm 

of doctrine „ 126 

may not be given more than 

one meaning 199 

Papists put Pope above 200 

assertion that Pope gives 

honor and authority to 203 

(See also Bible and Word.) 

Seal, ordination is 160 

Seances, tricks and lies 40 

Sectaries, the most dangerous 107 
Sectarians, disturb the peace 105 

bigotry of 106 

find theology easy 131 

Sects, pretences of 

105-107, 109, 129 
have only bread and wine 
in their Lord's Supper .58, 102 

their audacity 105-106, 109 

Bible not responsible for 118 

Iiuther not father of 

105-106, 117 

responsibility for 105-110 

Sepulchres _ — 74 

Sermons, must be based on 

Word 108 

should be simple 138 

people's estimate of 137 

Servant, cook as God's 210 

death is now the Christian's 115 

Shame, Germany's 230 

Sheaves, compared with pop- 
ulation _ 70 

Shoemaker, a lesson from 189 

God as a „ _... 79 

Sick, comfort for the .62, 113, 114 

Signs, observing of 69 

Sin, God not responsible for.. 117 
an illustration of original.. 163 
the unnecessary oath is a.. 149 

temptation in itself not 119 

the danoe is prolific of 264 

death end of „ 115 






350 



What Dr. Martin Luther Says 



Pare 

Sin — Concluded 

the Man of _ 196 

Pope multiplies 196 

Sinner, God given a good gift 

by a 113 

Sin, original, like beard _. 163 

brought many harmful 

things 79 

Slander, of sectaries — 105-106 

Slaves, of wealth _... 37 

Sleep, nature's sweet restorer 66 

regular hours for 66 

death is bnt a 75 

Smile, God is pleased with a 169 

Snake, the lie is like a 80 

Snow, as a symbol 186 

Snowball, lie is like a. _ 221 

Socialism, an impractical de- 
mand of 276 

Societies, oath-bound 150 

Soldiers, destruction of 172 

courage of _ 173 

Sons, God's claim on 276 

Spaniards, character of.. 172 

Sparrows, cost of feeding _ 70 

Speaker, public, excitement 

aids a _ 132 

Specialists, papal "spirit- 
ual" . : _.....275-276 

Spirit, Holy. (See Ghost, 

Holy.) 
Spiritualism, warning against 40 
Spoon, reason would measure 

ocean with a 215 

State, the. (See Government.) 

Statutes, papal 140, 196, 198 

Steward, God our 71 

Sterilization 68-69 

Stone, God makes bread of.. 70 

a wife carved out of „ 171 

Storm, beautiful and fruit- 
ful 42-43 

Strife, Church, should be for- 
gotten _ 321 



Students, poor, should not be 

spurned 234 

should be supported by the 

Church ._ „ 277 

Study, divinity not an easy.. 131 
children should be diligent 

in _ _ 266 

prayer an aid to 163 

Succession, Apostolic, not 

Scriptural 158 

Sun, rising of 65 

things cooked by.._ _ 79 

Sunday, not designated by 

Mosaic Law ._ 51 

why selected 51 

prime purpose of „ 52-53 

how kept holy 53, 242 

Surprises, God delights in 

preparing 223 

Superstition, reigns in the 

world _. 69 

rife in Popedom.. 274 

in connection with vermin 184 
in connection with plan- 
ets „ 69, 262 

Supper, Lord's. (See Sacra- 
ment.) 

Support, of ministers 175 

of indigent students 277 

Swill, the German devil 230 

Swilling, an ancient German 

custom 231 

Syncretism, wrong and dan- 
gerous 58, 100-110, 150 

Synergism 180 

Symbols. (See Creed and 

Confession.) 
Sylvester, on Pope and Scrip- 
tore 500, 203 

TACITTJS, on ancient Ger- 
mans 231 

Tailor, God works as a. 79 



Index 



351 



Faff* 

Tavern, use world as a 189 

tie devil's 171 

Teacher, one that exacts 

heavy fees 78 

Teachers, denial of orthodox 122 
confessions made impera- 
tive by false 126 

kind laymen want 104 

for children 266 

birds as our _ 70-72 

flowers as our 115 

ox and ass as oar 68 

false, always find adher- 
ents 116 

false, must be opposed. .126, 203 

"smart" 215 

Temptation, in itself no sin.. 119 

how to meet 119-120 

preachers made efficient by 120 

rife in the dance 264 

loose city government in- 
creases 41-42 

Test, of doctrine, a layman's 

easy 92 

Testament, Pope has altered 

Christ's _ 199 

Thanksgiving', harvest 188 

Theologians, hair-splitting.... 190 
evasive .129, 150, 162, 191, 199 

firm 108, 109, 110 

ignorant 103, 183 

indifferent . 58, 107 

unfaithful 129 

Theology, not so easy 131 

confused 150 

Thieves, combines are 36 

gamblers are 168 

Thirst, Germany's 230 

Thunder, beneficial 43 

St. Scholastlca invoked 

against 276 

Thunderbolts, Luther longs 
to utter 193 



Fag's 

Threats, Bible contains many 89 
Thuringia, a court officer of 274 

Toil, glorification of 210 

how to be happy in 211 

Tombstones, proper inscrip- 
tions for _ 74 

Tongue, preacher should have 

more than one 244-245 

Toothache, the papal special- 
ist for 276 

Torgau, intemperance at wed- 
ding at 231 

Torment, predestination 

breeds 248 

Trade, one easily plied _ 80 

the farmer's 66, 188 

the printer's 34 

Trade, action in restraint 

of 36 

Trades, God adept at all. 79 

Tramps, should be refused 

help 220 

Translating, Bmser's attitude 

toward Bible 118 

Treasure, the Work of God 

is the 54 

a good wife is a 170 

Treasures, of the Gospel, be- 
yond price 175 

Trickery, Spiritualism Is 40 

Troth, a wife keeps 170 

Trust, in God, taught by Bis 

care _ _ „..70-71 

taught by birds 71 

taught by flowers „ 115 

Trusts, are robbers 36 

are against justice 39 

Christians must not be in.. 38 
government should suppress 37 

Turks, reign of _ 146 

Spaniards compared with.. 172 
Tyranny, what has been done 

by papal 196 

Tyrant, the 76 



352 



What Dr. Martin Luther Says 



Pag* 
Type, God's providences like 

set up type — 62 

Types— 

sun of Gospel 65 

caterpillar of devil „.. 184 

flies of heretics 184 

UNCERTAINTY, pulpit 
must have no 108 

Uniformity, danger in 140-141 

Union, Church, why objected 

to 104-105, 110 

Unionism, audacity of 109 

Unity, Church, we must strive 

for 321 

we should pray for 110, 321 

Universalism, Savior's work 

made void by 148 

Unthankfulness, to God 42 

VAGABONDS, we should 
not encourage 220 

Valor, the soldier's 172 

Vexations, one of Satan's 108 

Vice, increased by tolera- 
tion 41-42 

Victory, right in relation to 173 

Vigilance, against devil 35 

against Papacy 192, 203 

Vergil, on farming . 66 

Vermin, Papists' regard for.. 184 
Virtues, woman has many.... 170 

Vision, Luther asks no 109 

Vitus, St., patron of dancers 275 
Vivit! a note of triumph.... 75 
Vocation, each should ply his 

own 64-65 

(See also Trade.) 
Voice, Pope claims to be 

Christ's 200 

WAX.DENSIANS, a mistake 
of 244 

War, a great plague 172 



Page 
War — Concluded 

instruments of 172 

a losing game 173 

we should pray against 173 

Warfare, the great factor in 173 
Warnings, the Bible contains 

many 89 

Water, noblest drink 78 

use goods as you do 37 

seeking death on 172 

Ways, there are but two „. 147 

Weak, the strong must re- 
gard the 233 

Wealth, how to use 37 

slaves of 37 

the Bible's 89 

a merry heart more than.... 81 

deceptive 188 

preachers blinded when 

they strive for 107 

Weapons, deplorable instru- 
ments 77, 172 

victory not always depend- 
ent on best 173 

Weasel-words, the Pope's 201 

the sects' 109 

Weather, regulated by farmer 164 
Wedding, congratulations at 223 
Wheat, a marvel that should 

quicken faith 66 

Whoremongers 41 

Wife, God's gift 223 

a treasure 170 

how to get an obedient 171 

Will, God's, that all be saved 252 

Wind, a necessity _. 165 

Wine, water excels 73 

Germany's use of 230 

a "good swallow" 231 

Wine-skin, German devil is a 230 

Winter, what is preached by 186 

we should thank God for.... 187 

Wiseacre, Mr 256 

Wit, God likes 169 



Index 



353 



Page 

Wits, anger sharpens the 132 

Wives, their faults should 

BOt Be published 170 

Wolf, Fable of the Colt and.. 65 
Woman, her most precious 

ornament _ 85 

keeps troth 170 

her love 171, 217 

her glory 171 

her faults 170 

Women, must not preach 153 

should pray before they 

soold 275 

ill comes of speaking light 

of 170 

Word, of God, the Bible is 

the 89 

the creative 72 

hallows us 54 

is very profound 89 

has but one meaning 199 

is only to be preached 108 

we must be well grounded in 108 
Christians bound to teach 

the 156 

should be taught in school 174 

holds Lutherans 121 

the way many have de- 
parted from 107 

Pope's commandments are 

against the 199 

Pope puts his word above 

God's 198, 200 

made void by Universallsm 148 
we must not affiliate with 

those who distort the 107 

(See also Bible and Scrip- 
ture.) 
Words, prayer should not 

have many 113 

Scripture may be expressed 

in other 126 

Work, right conception of 211 

is commanded 69, 119 



Page 

Workmen, day of rest for 52 

Works, their relation to 

faith 94-95 

how known to be good. .54, 92 
some speak of faith and 

mean 180 

World, is devil's tavern 171 

is an inverted decalogue.... 42 

like a drunken farmer 138 

dislikes the truth 64 

is ever changing 168 

its honor is deceptive 188 

superstition reigns in the.. 69 

dance belongs to the 264 

will not grow better 146, 195 

its kind of a preacher 138 

danger of seeking its favor 107 

ignore jabbering of the 138 

cannot brook Luther 67 

Worry, predestination causes 248 

illness caused by 185 

trust a cure for.... 71 

Worship, mixed 149 

without Christ 150 

fixed time for 52 

Lutheran Confessions pro- 
mote true 124 

Wrath, blindness of 166 

Writer, excitement aids the.. 132 

YOUTH, must be taught.... 92 

I ensnared by vice _... 41 

should be warned against 

Papacy 192 

should be taught history of 
Papacy 203 

ZODIAC, planting in signs 
of the 69 

Zurichers 101 

Zwingli, began of his own 

volition 105 

limitations of 215 

JBwinglians 101 





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